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 ?!?!?!!

Research

I found this statement which I feel fits my work so well. Walker (2009) says.. 'When a photograph - enters into a montage relationship with either a caption, text, another picture, or a particularly potent display context, then a 'third-effect' meaning can be generated from that juxtaposition which was not inherent in either of the terms seen in isolation.'


Each image and the text that is included in my piece of work has its own meaning but when it is combined together it gains a new meaning and effect that isn't present in the single image.