Examples of imagery

These are the examples of imagery that I included alongside my dissertation writing. These are images of sad, sick and malnourished African children and an example of the types of imagery that I do not want to create in my work.
The feelings and thoughts that these images evoke are not what I want my photographs to create.

Personally, when I look at these images I instantly feel sorry for the children, I feel a great sense of shame as if it is my fault that they are in the state that they are in.

It is wrong that children and babies have to be in this state at all but I feel that after 30+ years of being subjected to this imagery we as a nation should be able to also celebrate the change that has been made and we should be shown images of happy children as well.

http://www.imaging-famine.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Daily-Mirror-2008_small.jpg

 When Band Aid happened, showing these images was a great success and caused hundreds of people to act on it and donate money to help some of these children. However, now I personally think that people are bored of seeing the same imagery, people become immune to it and are not longer moved enough to act on what they see.

http://www.imaging-famine.org/blog/index.php/tag/the-guardian/

 Of course, children are still like this in some areas of Africa and that is so totally not fair to them. But in the west something has to change in order for people to become caring again. If we were shown more happy and uplifting imagery, with this visual information slotted in then it would shock people all over again, it would make people notice and help.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253655/Band-Aid-image-starving-children-Africa-warns-Oxfam-charity-says-people-longer-moved-continents-problems.html

I also just feel that it is only fair to the African children themselves to show another side of them. They are represented as sick and malnourished and sad .. but that is not their entire being. Some of them do go to school, they are loved, they have friends, they appreciate what they do have in life and they celebrate that.


A recent advertisement that has been shown is by Oxfam. It is titled 'Lift lives for good' and can be found at the following address - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2zymuD83aM
The music in this advert is uplifting, children are smiling and it is showing us how we can make a change without the need for showing children crying and in hospital. It shows them in school, at home doing chores for the family, etc.
After watching this video I personally feel much more inclined to donate and help then I do from looking at such depressing and sickening imagery.