While my main role was to direct the Swaziland Video projects, I was also there to do some photography. (Directing while photographing has been a great combination for me lately, a lot easier than shooting video and photography.) This time, a specific project came out of the photography, a series of portraits portraying families in Swaziland. The idea was to print 25 life sized portraits that would represent the 25 touches each medical kit has the potential of reaching. "25 pairs of gloves, 25 touches of love and care."
The idea was to take these portraits in front of peoples homes, not only to show a sense of place and context but also to give the feeling you were walking through a village, meeting these people. An overcast day or two really helped this. But when the sun came out and created harsh light, I was thankful to find doorways that faced away from the sun to create great shade.
During the Join In night, participants walked through a corridor of these portraits as they entered the dome to pack their kits.
To be honest, as I was shooting in Swaziland I was not thinking about the massive audience, just the photo...which made me panic a little as I watched 17,000 people walk through the display. This is one of those projects you need to pinch yourself to make sure your not dreaming. "Really? 17,000 people are viewing my work? And it is helping them understand!" I will never have an art show that will exceed this many eyes, but I am not sure if I want to "show" my work as art, I would rather have my work be useful for something more educational.
See part 1 for more on the Cargiver video and stay tuned for part 3 for some behind the scenes action...
mk
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment