Re-try tracing paper

Since I have sort of changed my idea and am now using light to aid the transparency of my images.. I decided to retry the tracing paper.
I wondered if perhaps when held to the light it would become transparent.
Here is the test:

It is slightly more see-through against the light, but still not enough for how I want it to be.
The colour is still there, sometimes when light is put behind an image the colour can fade, but in this instance it doesn't which is nice.

Unfortunately though I don't think it will work for this project.

Charity websites

I looked at the websites of the six charities that I had emailed.

Everything on most of the websites is about hungry, ill and poverty-stricken children. There is a lot about disaster and poverty on each website.
I know that they want people to help but the imagery that they are using only adds to the stereotypes and perception that all Africa needs is help from the West and that they are all poor and needy.

This is not true! Yet, there is nothing to tell us otherwise. Everywhere we look we are bombarded with the same message - that we need to give money to help African Children.


On Tearfund's website (http://www.tearfund.org/) they have a few success stories visible for people to clearly see and read. They are from people who have been helped by one of the Tearfund projects.

The Compasison website (http://www.compassionuk.org/) also has more positive imagery to be seen and doesn't only show poverty and disaster. The immediate feeling you get from the site is quite warm I think, the imagery is of happy children. And although there are things on there to try and encourage you to sponsor a child or donate money, they are not what catches the eye straight away.

Responses from charities

I only heard back from three of the six charities that I e-mailed. And within their very polite text was the following responses:

 



All three of them pointed me towards their respective websites to try and find the information I am looking for.
They do have the information of their aims and mission statements online, but I feel that these are really very generic.
I understand also that they don't perhaps have the time to respond to such e-mails and questions, however, if they are trying to make people feel connected and wanting money support or help with aid surely they should be replying (even if it is a generic email that is sent to all people who ask, outlining their mission statement, which has been written and saved as a document and just forwarded to the inquiry). The want people to spend time giving money, or fundraising, or visiting the poverty-stricken places, yet they don't have time the inquiring person feel valued and connected.

So now, I will try to look through their websites to see what I can find that could possibly answer my questions.

Fabric experimentation

I brought some fabric that you can print onto from a craft fair this weekend. I thought it would be really fun to see what it would look like if I printed this image onto it.
Well, it worked out really well and it is so simple to do. When it has no light behind it you can just see the image, but when it is held up to the light it becomes more transparent.

I then tried layering the fabric over the acetate text and image (above). It worked really well I think. I was hoping that it would work but I didn't expect it to be as good as it has turned out.
I also like that the trees aren't lined up properly so it gets a sort of 3D/shadow effect on it.

However, it is already very apparent that the fabric frays so easily, you just have to touch it and it all starts coming apart. If I use it then I will have to sew the edges or something to stop it from doing this all the time.

True feelings

To be honest, I am feeling really disheartened with this project.
I really don't want to give up but at this point it just feels like its going nowhere and it's just not working. I don't know what it is thats making me feel like that though. =/ I just feel so rubbish about it.

I really like the print on acetate and the text. But i don't feel like it's enough. How can it be enough?
But.. its a representation of my trip.

I feel so passionate about the subject matter and what im trying to show, but i just.. it's not showing through! I'm not doing it justice - I feel like I can't do it!

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Sometimes, I just want to scream!

Drawing

I tried doing some drawing of slave ships and islands to try layering but it just really didn't look or feel right.

I really don't like drawing and it doesnt come easily to me, so i really felt like I was labouring it a little bit too much for it to be an inspired drawing or anything like that.

Here is an example of one of the ships:

It just didn't aid the overall look and feel that I want for my project.

I tried it at least, but I wont be adding any drawing to my work.

Making it personal

Ive been trying to think of ways to make my project more personal and I am really struggling. I don't want to add anything that will take away from the imagery, or that will make the concept so much more difficult to understand. Or just make it all look to busy and overcrowded.
I think it represents me and my trip to The Gambia in that it is my image and I am bringing all of the elements together to tell a story. You don't look at the image and see the history of James Island and straight away know about the slaves etc.
The history and darkness is hidden totally by the idyllic image, the viewer must do research into the meaning of my work to know what it truly represents.

(This is what I have written my mixed media essay based on. How the meaning of a photograph can be hidden from the viewer.)

One way I have considering making this piece of work more personal, was to stitch into the text. I thought about stitching certain words from the text which help tell the story, or that stood out to me as being important or moving.

However, this really didn't work. The only materials I could get the needle and thread through were paper, tracing paper and fabric. The acetate was just too tough to get it through.
As I really want to print onto the acetate, this isn't going to work.
I would need an industrial, super sharp sewing machine to be able to stitch into the acetate. This costs money and takes time, and I don't have enough of either to do it.

So.. I will keep thinking...