Evaluation

This project has ended up being a sort of visual answer to the written work in my dissertation. I wrote about the representation of children, and whilst researching for it and writing it really hit me emotionally and I have had a real passion for these photographs. I have felt that I want to represent them well and fairly. Some of the imagery that is seen of African children is so horrible and sickening, I didn't want my images to show that, I wanted to show the world the African children that I know and love. I feel, at the end of this project looking back, that I have done this. I feel that my photographs show happy children, they are all in uniform which shows that they are in school and none of them look sick and malnourished, even though where they live is nothing more than mud huts which sit on top of a rubbish heap.
It was really quite daunting when I went to The Gambia without giving myself a brief, but it taught me to really look around and study everything that I saw. I found that I took a lot more in and became attached to things that I wouldn't usually be drawn to, because I had a camera and was trying to document everything I was seeing and experiencing. I think that this experience taught me a lot also about being able to photograph at such a fast pace, I had told myself before I went that I did not want to stage photographs and pose children, I really wanted to try to document and photograph in the moment. Because of this, a lot of my images didn't come out as well as I had hoped, but to me that was okay because I was taking a risk and if I didn't take risks I wouldn't push myself and progress in my work. It was really frightening, but I know in my personal development I need to push myself out of my comfort zones now and again just to see if I can cope.
I am really pleased that my images of the children came out well, because it meant that I was able to respond to what I had read and written in the way that I wanted to. The images that I captured of the children, where their requests. I stuck to my original plan and I did not pose any of the children, nor did I ask them if I could photograph them. Each photograph, the child in it had asked me to take their photograph. They asked me to photograph them, I did, and because of their beautiful smiles and the hope that they have I am now showing the photographs to other people and hopefully spreading a more positive message.
I am hoping that I am portraying these children in the best way that I can. I hope that I am doing them justice and not aiding the negative stereotypes that are so freely moving around the western world. Looking at my final series, I believe that I am doing what I set out to do, and I feel that it does respond to my written work.
In terms of cost, I did stay within the budget that I set for myself. That budget did not include my trip to The Gambia, because I did not specifically go just for this university project.
I printed my images A2 size, because I wanted them to be big so that when they are viewed they cannot be ignored. I didn't want people to be able to walk past them, or turn away from them without having some kind of connection. The children are roughly life size, probably slightly bigger, and so there is no way that people cannot have some sort of connection with them. Their warm expressions and friendly eyes draw you in. I knew that these prints would not be the prints that I would be hanging in the exhibition so A2 is big enough I feel, when in exhibition I am unsure whether I would print them even bigger or not. Cost wise, I won't be exhibiting all 10 images in the end of year show, so I will be able to budget for bigger prints. But when printing and handing in 10 images I had to cost that in and work within my budget.
Overall, I am pleased with this project. I truly feel that I have put my all into it. I think that in the future I might come back to or re-visit this project and the children. One idea I have already had is to follow the children and document the great things that they do in life, or to re-visit them in a few years time to document how things changed, what happened to them - this would be more out of personal curiosity and excitement I think, rather than to sell or have on display to the world.

Statement

This series, 'New Life', shows 10 images of Gambian school children. The Western world has grown so accustomed to being shown images of African children dying and in such great need of help. This has become the norm, and many people have or will become desensitized to this and so it needs to change. My works aims to show that although these children live lives that are so different to ours here in the west, they are still human beings and they deserve respect. I hope to show them as people; beautiful, happy and so grateful for their lives. My work aims to break the negative stereotypes and portray the children in a fair and just way. 

The series

Here is my series of 10 images, along with their individual image titles. 

Andrew, 5 years old

This little boy has such a cheeky face. I have a soft spot for each and every child that I met and photographed and the time I spent with them all is cherished. When I look at this image it sort of brings all of those emotions back to me and I can't help but smile when looking at it.
I like how the orange of his backpack contrasts against the green and white of the uniform. The pale sand also acts as such a good background.
In the editing process, I removed a small white speck from the top right of this corner. It was right about Andrew's head and I found it a bit distracting. Also, there was a piece of gingham material in the bottom left by Andrew's arm, I think it may have been a tie from the back of a girls dress. Again it was a little distracting, and wasn't any part of Andrew, it did not change it appearance to get rid of it, so I removed it. This was all I did because I did not want to lighten/darken skin, remove spots or impurities or make uniform look better etc because that would mean that I am passing judgement on that thing not being good enough. I want to document these children as they are, show them to the world without me 'perfecting' them.
I also brightened the whole image very slightly when printing because the colour profile changed the colours to be very dark. The images were also sharpened once when the image size was changed.

Awa, 8 years old

Again with this image I like that the bag strap really stands out against the uniform. The pose that Awa is standing in makes me smile, it is such a western stance I think. Hand on hip, bit of attitude. The pink of the scar on her head also stands out and catches my attention in this image, which I quite like. I don't like that she has a scar on her head but I like how the colour stands out and that it is catches the eye.
Again, I have no edited that out because it is part of her, I don't know how she got that scar or how long it has been there. But it is a part of her and so who am I to come along and remove it because it doesn't meet my 'standards' for a portrait. Also, I don't feel that seeing the scar on her head makes the viewer feel sorry for her. It doesn't provoke a specific emotional response, I dont think!
I have not done any other editing of this image, except sharpen after sizing and brightening after I changed the colour profile for printing.

Brima, 5 years old

This also is such a cheeky face. I personally can't look at this photograph with smiling at least a little bit and sort of tilting my head sideways a little bit. It engages me and makes me respond physically to connect with him more.
There is a small rip in his shirt, on his shoulder at the forefront of the image, again I did not edit this out. I like that it is not noticeable at first because attention is drawn to Brima's face, it is only on inspection or further interest looking at the rest of the photograph that you notice it. Again, it is a shame that he has a rip in his shirt, if he was in Britain somebody would have sewn it for him (probably to stop other peoples opinions from being negative!) but it does not stop him from being him, his friends didn't tease him about it and it didn't stop him from learning.
Again with this image, there was no extra editing besides the brightening and sharpening.

Fatoumatta, 11 years old

 I really like this image and I think it is quite an important image. I took this on a day when Unicef representatives were in the school giving all of the children Meningitis vaccinations for free. The children just sort of lined up (it was more of a huge gathering) in the playground and there were 2 people at a table in the middle of the group who as the children were there and ready injected them gave them the health card and moved on to the next.
IT was interesting for me to watch because it just was so different to how I have ever experienced having vaccinations. Plus, most of the children walked away smiling and glad to have had it which is totally the opposite of Western children.
In post-production, I removed from the bottom right shadow of another child, the corner of another child's shirt and 2 white specks from the top of the image near to Fatoumatta's head. All of these things I thought might be a little distracting for the viewer, but none would change the appearance of Fatoumatta or would change the environment she is in or have any effect on the meaning of the image.
Then the same sharpening and brightening happened when printing and re-sizing the image.

Lamin, 9 years old

I like Lamin's pose in this photograph, he is sort of twisted sideways with one shoulder slightly raised, arms by his shoulders. He is an air of confidence about him. He is not shy to the camera and with his half smile, I think if he was in Britain I would presume he had looked at models and magazines and sort of copied their poses but they don't have that sort of thing to copy from in The Gambia. As with Momodou I think he has a kind of authoritativeness about him.
In editing I didn't change anything other than the brightening and sharpening in print.

Matthew, 2 years old

This is the son of one of the teachers in the nursery school, who I am still in contact with now. She has been a huge help to me in finding out the childrens' names and ages for this work.
Above Matthew's head there was a lot of shadow, I think from a tree. I cloned it all out but then cropped the image to make him more central, to fit into the series better, so a lot of the editing was cropped out. I didn't realize until after editing and printing that he is holding something pink in his hand. There is a slight glow of it at the bottom of the image. I don't feel that it is too noticeable or distracting (I didn't notice it in editing so it can't be that obvious) so I don't mind it too much, plus it adds a little bit of contrast to the black shadow around there.
That was all of the editing I did on this image, plus the sharpening and brightening for print.

Momodou, 12 years old

 I really really like this photo, I'm not sure why but from the very beginning it has really stood out to me. I like that he stands out from the girls in the background, he is completely in focus and they are out. In post-production I aided this slightly by blurring them a little bit more, only to try and enhance and make Momodou stand out even more. He grabs your attention because he is looking directly into the camera and he holds the viewers gaze, I think it is really great at making that connection between subject and viewer (quote from Barthes in a previous post).
It was in this image that I first noticed myself.. literally. In his eyes, there is a reflection of me taking the photograph. I have since discovered that this is the case in every photo from this series. I really like the fact because each of these children has a little part inside of me, they have impacted me and connected with me in different ways and as I said earlier I cherish them all. And so, by having the reflection of me in their eyes, it is sort of like there is a piece of me inside each of them too. It is a really personal thing that comes through in such a subtle way. 
He is not smiling as the others are, but at the same time he doesn't look upset. I think he looks quite authoritative. I really like this as part of the series too because again with the title 'New Life', I can imagine him saying 'Watch out im coming, just wait'. Perhaps he will achieve great things and I dont know, become leader of The Gambia or something. You never know!
I didn't do any other editing, except for the brightening and sharpening.

Nyima, 5 years old

 I cropped this from a photograph of the nursery class lined up as we were handing out knitted hats and jumpers. They were gifts from people in the UK that we had taken over to distribute, it was so hot to us but to them it was winter and they didn't own jumpers, coats and everything else that we take for granted. So a simple wooly hat was very much appreciated by them all.
In cropping and editing this image I blurred slightly the girls that are behind Nyima to make her stand out a little more to the viewer. 
 I like that the colour of the jumper on the girl behind stands out, but not so much that it is overpowering. It makes the pink of Nyima's hat stand out in the bright sunshine by giving it another colour to not blend into.
The only other editing I did was sharpening and brightening for print.

Rosaline, 7 years old

There is a lot going on in this image I think, a lot of information can be drawn own of it. There is the jeep in the background with a large tyre on it's bonnet. This is how they drove around, there is no boot to store things so the spare tyre is on the front and there is a small metal rack on the top for bags. However, you could easily look at it and think that maybe it is a junk jeep, that it is broken and the wheel has fallen off so they have put it on the top of the bonnet out of the way.
Also, there is a boy standing behind Rosaline eating a baguette (i think). I'm not sure if you can tell that it is food if you don't already know. The boy's arm is really skinny but, he's eating.

Rosaline's smile is really warm and friendly I think, but this is juxtaposed by her folded arms which can come across as quite un-friendly sometimes. I don't think in this photo though that it takes away from her obvious friendliness.

In editing, I cropped the image down so that the top of the jeep isn't in the photo. This was purely so that Rosaline is more centered in the frame, so that it fits with the rest of the series better. I then sharpened and brightened the image in print.

Thomas, 13 years old

This is another photograph which makes the viewer physically connect with the subject. The way that Thomas is holding his head, slightly on the side makes me move my head to see him better. I'm not sure though whether the pose that it makes the viewer take, is similar to the stance you would adopt when feeling sympathetic towards something, which is not what I want the viewer to feel towards these children. His smile and his eyes have a warm and friendly feel as well which I think just draws the viewer in deeper.
In editing I aided the blur of the girl in the background to make Thomas stand out in the foreground more. I also brightened and sharpened for print.
I am a little disappointed with how this print came out at print because the colour profile really darkened the shadow around Thomas' eyes. In the original it is much more warm which I like, but it seems quite harsh with the darker shadow.

Change of idea.. re-blogged

 My purpose for this project changed after writing my proposal and I blogged about it in March so here is a link to that blog post stating my change in direction in this project....

http://sarahneuenhaus.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/change-of-idea-made-clear.html

Project Title

I have struggled a little bit with finding a title for this project. I think I was trying to make it something impressive, but not too cheesy but obvious that thought had gone into it. I also wanted it to really represent the images, so that it linked and wasn't too foreign and far-fetched from what the images are actually showing.

Also, because I really want to do the children justice through this work and I don't want to put any meaning out that I don't mean or that can be interpreted wrongly. It has stressed me out.

But I have decided that the title of this work is 'New Life'.

It is really simple and when I think about it now it is so obvious.
The name of the school that the children attend is New Life Children's Center. The British people that I traveled to The Gambia with also fund raise and go by the same name.
I also don't think that it can interpreted in a negative way by anybody, it is a positive title that pretty much sums up every aspect of the work.
These children are the new life of The Gambia, they are the next generation, they are being educated and are happy... They are New Life.

Looking back at previous research

©Rosie Hallam, Choir Master

 This photograph I think is similar to my series as it is a teacher in a school. It shows him happy, enjoying what he is doing and he is smartly dressed which again I think suggests that he is happy and has respect for his job. Perhaps even that he is paid quite well, to be able to afford the smart clothes, and also have them so neat and tidy (ironed by the look of it). The walls are empty which suggests that the environment he is in has not got a lot of money and the desk is pretty empty other than his bag, sunglasses and a stack of exercise books.
His belt says 'BOSS' on it but I don't know if it is authentic Hugo Boss or perhaps a fake version that is so readily available in poorer areas. I don't want to seem as though I am passing judgement by saying it, but it is difficult to tell whether or not it is authentic or not. However, he is very well dressed and if he is paid well in his job then perhaps he can afford those luxuries.
This work would sit well as a body of work after mine, it could be a sort of .. what happened next project. In some of my photographs I suggested that the children looked as if they were quite authoritative and  sort of intelligent, like they are going to do great things in life. I can imagine in a few years this being a photograph of one of the boys that are in my 'New Life' series.

©Carmen Ballve, Girls in Barracon

This image differs from my work because the girls don't look very happy here. Neither of them are looking at the camera, but this could perhaps be because they don't know that the camera is there. They both look like they are deep in thought. There is a third arm in the image on the bottom right of the photograph, this reminds me of Dorothea Lange's image 'Migrant Mother' where there was a thumb in the same position. However, in Lange's image she edited the thumb out in post-production whereas here they have left it in.
The washing left in the image I think suggests that they are quite poor, and because the cloth on the right is very ripped and torn.
In my images I didn't want to show this, they are rich in so many areas - for example, their love for others, how much they care and their overall happiness. So that is what I wanted to portray.

©Patrick Brown, Zambia, Malawi, 1994

This is the complete opposite of what I wanted to show in my images. I think that this goes back to the images that were shown around the time of Band Aid and ever since. It is these images that I personally think should stop. There is also a great sense of 'the other' because it is a white man's hands touching the baby's head. This I also didn't want to show in my images because I think the connotations change completely when 'the other' is so obvious in an image.

Finding a title..

So it has recently dawned on me that I need a title for this body of work!

Argh! I have no idea what to title it - how do you come up with a title?

Oh my gosh I need to really think about this.. maybe a brain storming session is needed.

Budgeting/Costing

When it came close to the time of needing to print I set myself a budget of £200 as this is how much bursary I get this term, and so that is the money that I set aside specifically for my work. However, out of this I also need to get my stuff for Mixed Media and for the exhibition. I really am hoping that I can stay inside of this budget but if not I have a small amount of maintenance grant that I can dip into.

I have 10 prints which I am printing A2 - £7.50 x 10 = £75

I also need a presentation box to hand the prints in for submission, this needs to be professional and neat so that it protects my images but also does them justice (not just a cardboard box) I care about my work and this needs to be evident on submission.
This is coming from Pullingers online and costs £23.69

So far in total I have spent £98.69

I am not going to frame my work for submission because to be honest, I just can't afford to. I know that those prints will go into archive - for exhibition I will have to reprint and so those prints will be framed for exhibition. I would love to be able to frame them and have them absolutely perfect and as if they were going straight into exhibition, but unfortunately that is just not in my price range and so a sacrifice has to be made there in order for me to be able to afford the rest of the course.

Final editing of the series

As I get closer to printing my final images, I don't feel totally comfortable with my final 10 but, I don't know why.

This is my 10 images:

I have 10 images because it is a well rounded number. Something inside of me just can't sit comfortable having an odd number of photographs. I'm not usually OCD about things but this I really totally am - so it must be my gut telling me that 10 is the right number.

The image top right - does it work? All the others are school age and in uniform, this is a mother and baby. I really like the image and it holds special memories in my heart, but taking emotion out of the equation .. does it fit. I don't think it does. So.... I need to replace it.

What if I add another image of a child not in uniform?
But then that's 11 images. It really doesn't sit comfortably with me. I can feel myself shifting around in my seat at the prospect of it.

Okay... so what about 12 images. Yep even number, it works i'm not shifting around so much at that thought. But... it still doesn't work for me visually! arghhhh - come on Sarah why doesn't this work.

The boy in the bottom left isn't looking at the camera. He's smiling and looks happy but he is not looking to camera. Which doesn't fit with the rest of the images because they all are looking to camera. So.. I don't want to use that image.

But then, again the issue with the top right image... so maybe I just take that one out of the series too. That also brings us back to 10 images.

However, the top left image - hes not smiling. My whole point is to show happy children and he doesn't look happy. He doesn't look sad or sick either, but hes not smiling.

I found these 2 images (top right, bottom left) which I had discarded previously. I am unsure why. I have cropped them slightly and edited them and I don't think they look out of place within the series. So.. I think I have found a way to make this work. Hurrah!

Although I think I now have 11 images again... okay i'll lay them out and consider for a day or so. Give it time to sink in and see what feels right.

THIS is my final series! Hurrah I got there eventually. I got rid of the photograph of 2 school girls together. It didn't fit quite right because there were 2 in the image and only 1 in each of the others.
All the photographs have 1 school child, all various ages, and they are each looking to camera. There is 1 boy who is not smiling (bottom 2nd from left) but his stare into camera is just so intense and striking that I can't not use it. I have had that image from the very beginning of editing and it is just so powerful to me I can't take it out.

I really wanted to have equal number of boys and girls, but I think that may just be taking OCD matters a little to far because I feel that it works well like this. There are 4 girls and 6 boys.. which is fine with me and I quite like it. The total number of images is an even number so I think that the number of boys to girls is off balance slightly.

Gathering names and ages

With the help of some of the teachers that I am still in contact with in The Gambia I have managed to find out all the names and ages of the children that I am printing portraits of.

I am so thankful for their help because without them searching villages and school classes for me, my project would not work the way that I have been wanting it to.

So, each photograph has a caption of the child's name and their age. This allows the viewer to connect with the child. Not to feel sorry for, or ignore the child because they are nameless to who is viewing the image, it is a portrait of a child, happy and smiling, who lives in The Gambia. I as the photographer have photographed them, documented that they are a person, in the same way I feel that somebody would document a friend in a portrait, or a celebrity.

I don't feel it fair to keep portraying African children as sick, malnourished, starving, sad and miserable people. The children that I met were happy, it happens that the images I am printing are all in school, but even the children outside of the school were happy, they live with what they have and they are all so thankful for what they do have. The don't know any different - until Westerners go in and start saying 'oh poor you' and 'oh how tragic' ... then they become aware that there is a difference! Who's place is it to say things like that to these people - nobodys! They are people! They should not be treated like they are lower than us, just because they don't have iphones and computers and gadgets that make our children so anti-social and brain square-eyed. They play in sand, they play with sticks and stone - so what?! So did the older generations of the Western world!

I am totally against them living in pig sty's, and totally for putting an end to diseases and malaria and everything else like that. They have the right to life just the same as everybody else - I am not disputing that at all! I just don't agree with the West being shown such ugly imagery of beautiful.. truly beautiful children!

Sizing inspiration

I have taken inspiration for my large prints from the work of Thomas Ruff.

He created and exhibited large scale portrait photographs in 1986-90 at the Saatchi Gallery. http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/thomas_ruff.htm

The scales of his images were 210x165cm and 200x150cm. His images were passport style, of just head and shoulders of people, so printed at this size they are larger than life size.
They would be attention grabbing and intriguing the the viewer, there is no way that they could be ignored.

This is how I want my images to be, not able to be ignored. However, I think that the sizing of Ruff's work is a little too big and if my images were printed that size it would be difficult to see the image as a whole.

'French theorist Roland Barthes, in his book Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography (1982), suggests that it is possible for a photograph to convey deep emotion, and that there is a moment when the subject of a photograph makes a direct link with the emotions of the viewer through the surface of the image.' http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/thomas-ruff/thomas-ruff-portraits

This quote also links to my work because I am hoping that the children in my photographs will make a direct link with the emotions of the viewer. I hope that they will speak through the image, and I am just acting as a facilitator to allow that link of emotions to happen. I feel that by using the children's name and age as the title for each image, this will strengthen the link because will know a little more information about that child.

Refering back

Looking back at some of my previous research I thought it would be good to reflect back and compare my work now to what influenced me at the beginning of the project.

I think that this photograph by Ami Vitale has really influenced me and can closely be compared to the images that I have printed today. 

This image is showing raw emotion and sadness, which my images don't do because I specifically chose not too show that sort of emotion in my images. However, the piercing eyes is an aesthetic that this photograph and mine share.

My image is not black and white, because I feel that if mine were black and white they would be too similar to the campaign image and it could be argued that I am trying to get the same message out through my image.

I have also noticed that when zoomed in, on both my image and Vitale's image the photographer is visible in the childs' eyes.  At first I was horrified that I had captured myself in the eyes of the child, I thought it was a horrible mistake and I should have been aware of that happening when I was shooting.
However, I now feel so differently about it. I have a huge emotional connection with this project and with the children that I have photographed. I feel that I have a responsibility in showing these images, that I have to portray them right and fairly. I think that quite often it is easy for a photographer to feel like they hide behind their photographs. I often say 'I much prefer being behind the camera than infront of it' and it's true.. but with this project it is so important to me and i feel so passionate about it that by putting myself in the frame as well as behind it I even more so have to get it right and portray them fairly. The world can not only see these children in the photographs but they can also see me in them too.

It also comforted me a little that other photographers have done this.. whether intentional or not, or for the same reason as I have or not.. it works and it is not overly powerful on hers or mine. To begin with in my images it was all I could look at because it stood out to me as a mistake but now it is not the most obvious part of the image and I like it. It adds a new element and dimension to the image I feel.

Print size

This morning I printed an image in A2 and A3 size.

I printed on matte paper because I don't want my photographs to be shiny and glossy. When images have a shine to them I personally feel that it takes away a rawness of an image. These photographs are very raw, and real and I want to show that in all aspects. They have not been edited (other than sharpening for the purpose of print), the colours have not been enhanced, and in no way have blemishes or marks been removed or toned down. I feel that having a shine on the paper will really just take away from being able to see the child and really take their gaze and emotions in as a viewer.

I printed an A3 and an A2 because I am unsure of which size to go for. I want the images to make an impact to the viewer. I do not want the viewer to be able to see the image and walk past it. I want to grab them, entice them and pull them in to really see these children and spend time with them.

I feel like the A2 print does that. When I saw it coming off the printer and then laid in front of me, I had goose bumps. I very rarely get emotional over photographs but truthfully sitting and looking at that image printed in A2 brought tears, and goose bumps and shivers to me. That is exactly the reaction I want from somebody looking at my photographs.

In order to print all my photographs at this size though, I need to make sure that they are all perfect with focus and sharpness and that they really do grab hold of the viewer.

The other aspect of this decision is price. The A2 is so much more expensive than A3 when printing not just 1 of each. I don't want to have to go for the cheaper option and sacrifice the work though...

The A3 has the impact but just as much as the A2 does. The A2 is just like BAM in your face whereas I think with the A3 you could just glance at it and walk past quite easily.


I am going to put the images up in my living room and spend some time with each before I make my final decision.

Decision made

I have made the decision that I am going to show my work as individual prints not in a book.

I want my images to challenge people and be attention grabbing and I just feel that if they are in a book I will be sort of hiding them away and they will not challenge people unless they are in peoples' faces.

The imagery that we are shown day to day is not hidden away for us to choose to look at it. It is on our tv screens and on billboards, in magazines and newspapers.. they are in our faces and really we can't escape it.
I am challenging this and so I want to do the same thing. I want my images to be unmissable, people can't just walk past without seeing them. Therefore I need to print them as individual images and I think I will print them big.

Questioning others

After being rather unsuccessful with gathering answers to some questions from well known charities, I decided to ask those questions to people who either were born and grew up in Africa or are now working in Africa. Some of the people I asked are friends of mine, some are people that I don't know but are family/friends of people that I have contact to. Many of them don't know the whole of my project, so I feel that their responses are based on what they possibly think I want them to say.

This is an email response from an American missionary teacher in Kampala, Uganda.

  The bits that stuck out to me from her answers were:

- '..African children are typically portrayed to the Western world as beautiful and sweet but poverty-stricken, starving, naked or sick children that have many tremendous needs.'

- '..they are content and happy just living the way they are used to.'

- '..we also have to be careful as the stereotype might cause a child to "realize" that he is "poor" and "third-world".'


This is a conversation that I had with a male, aged 20, who was born and grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe and now lives in the UK.

 

The parts that stuck out to me from this conversation were:

- '..the way it is now perceived worldwide... is that most African children are malnourished and sick, which is not true.'

- '.. growing up in Africa, we were never showed the Western view..'

- '.. it might make a difference, even to one child, on the other hand there's the negative perception which is generated.'

 This is a response from a male, aged 23, who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in the UK.

The words from this response that stood out to me are:

- '..it twists the way first world people see and treat anyone from Africa.'

- '.. they get treated like people who are helpless and require hand outs or they may die. .. people should be encouraged to go and make a difference personally.'

This responses is from a female, aged 57, who grew up in Kitwe, Zambia and now lives in the UK.

 The text that struck me from this response were:

- ' The images .. show African children as ragged urchins playing barefoot in the dirt, or living in squalid squatter camps unable to attend school..'

- ' Africa is so often seen as a 'basket case' - almost so hopelessly broken that it is not even worth helping.'

- 'Africa has many problems, but it also produces vibrant, vigorous communities...'

- ' It should change to .. show children in school, playing team games, ... helping with household chores, ... expecting to become teachers, doctors, engineers etc when they grow up.'  

Beggining to look at image selection

I sorted my images into a yes (left) folder and a maybe (right) folder and printed them as contact sheets. I then went back into the images individually and checked the sharpness and focus of each image.. those that I feel are suitable to be used I have highlighted in yellow.
This is not my final choice of images, it is just an initial selection for me to work with closer.

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.

Response to Dissertation..

Within my dissertation I argued that we have been shown the same images of African children since the 1980's. The imagery that we see is mostly of sick, malnourished and sad children. I feel that this is wrong.

 

Fienberg, G (2012), “Viewpoint: A time to stop giving?” BBC, 19^th December 2012 [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20762278 (Accessed: 18th February 2014) 

 I want my images to respond to this visually. I want to be a part of making a change to the imagery that is shown in the western world of African children. 

I feel that by printing my images and framing then in exhibition will do this much more successfully than hiding them away in a book.

When I was in The Gambia photographing children, I found that quite often the children would be running around and enjoying time playing with their friends and siblings, and including myself in their games. However, as soon as the camera was pointed towards them the facial expressions changed almost instantly. This did not happen with all of the children,  but it was very obvious with a few, especially the boys. They would do peace signs with their hands and pull stern sharp face expressions. Many didn't understand the 'smile at the camera' directions. 

I think perhaps it is a mixture of things. One thing that I thought could sway this occurrence is that they know where the imagery might end up, and that if they do not smile then people will feel sorry for them and send them presents/sponsor them/give them money.

Another is that they didn't understand. They don't have mirrors in their houses, as it is not an essential.. therefore a lot of them don't know what they look like. Therefore somebody taking a photograph of them and showing them is the same as us looking in the mirror, it is just not instant for them. They then don't see the change in smile to frown or stern face, and most probably then don't know how it changes their personal appearance.

This could be the reason for there being so much imagery of African children looking so unhappy and upset. However, I still don't agree with the way that those images are being used in the West.

Book research

Edwards, E (2001) Raw Histories, Oxford: Berg

P16 says "...the material forms in which photographs are arranged, how they are printed and viewed, as albums, lantern slides, or mounted prints, is integral to their phenomenological engagement, structuring visual knowledge as well as those related human actions in modes of viewing."

This is saying that the way an image is presented ultimately structures the way that a viewer will see it, how they will understand it and the information that they will take away from the photograph that they are viewing. Human nature, is to impart our own understanding onto that image as well so it is really important that this is considered when the arrangement and presentation of work is being decided.
It is something that I will be massively considering when printing, framing and showing my photographs of the African children. I don't want to do it without any thought, because these are human beings, they are children - they deserve some respect and I really feel that by using their photographs in a resepctful way I will also be respecting and loving them at the same time.

This project holds a real emotional connection for me and I just want to get it right ! I want to do them the justice that they so very much deserve!!

P17 says, "Performances, like photographs, embody meaning through signifying properties, and are deliberate, conscious efforts to represent, to say something about something."

This also directly links to my project because for me it really is a conscious effort to represent and say something about the African children.

How do I present my work ?

I am in a debate with myself over whether to present my images as a book or as prints.

I want to include the child's name as caption to the photograph, which is easier in a book.
However, my project is about giving the children a voice, making them a person.

In a book, the images would be hidden away behind the front cover. Somebody has to physically pick up the book, choose to look through it and even then the photographs are limited in size and so I question whether the viewer will be able to connect with the child that they are looking at.

If I print the photographs largely, they are there visible to anybody who is walking by. In this world, we are bombared with imagery and campaign media of starving sick children, why?! My images show that they are happy, smiling, getting on with life as they know how to. Why can't I bombard viewers in a gallery space with my images?

When the photographs are hung in the gallery, the caption with it will be the child's name.


A book, however is a physically thing. You can handle it, touch it, smell it, hold it as close to your face as you want to... so maybe that is more of a connection?

I don't know !!!

Book/ Prints/ Book/ Prints/ Book ?!?!?!!