Rural images

And the same fried has brought to my attention the nice photography of David Creedon, out of Cork who currently has an exhibition titled Ghosts of the Faithful Departed runnning at Photofusion, London. The exhibition tells the story in photos of mass emigration from rural Ireland during the 50s and 60s.

Fort Eochla

The photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand specilaises in the most amazing aerial photographs. This one is of Dun Eochla fort on Inishmore Island, County Galway, built centuries ago on this island some 30 miles off the Irish coast. For centuries, the inhabitants of the Aran Islands have helped keep the soil fertile by regularly spreading a mixture of sand and seaweed on the rock to produce the thin layer of humus needed for farming. To protect their plots from wind erosion, the islanders have built a vast network of almost 7,500miles of low walls, which give the land the appearance of a vast mosaic. But how did he get up there? Certainly wasn't Ryanair.

Check out more of his incredible images here.

Visible Work, Invisible Women

I think it was the large photograph of the two young girls from a rural area in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh that caught my eye the most. They were bent over in hard labour concentrating on finding one of the many red hairy caterpillars that would help them earn about 20 cents for a days work. It takes about one thousand of the pests to make up the kilogram that will result in the pay of 10 rupees. Nice work if you can't get it! This exhibition, Visible Work, Invisible Women, of Palagummi Sainath's photographs graphically illustrated the exploitative nature of women's work in rural India and the poor treatment that they receive at the hands of landlords and how undervalued women's work is compared to that of men. Often the excuse being that the work of men is more technical, more demanding which this exhibition highlights is not the case. But Indian landlords are not the only ones who undervalue the work of rural women. Economists and statisticians ignore and undervalue it too! This photographic essay clearly highlights that a life in the day of a rural woman in India is one filled with constant work in the home, in the field and in the market. It is a strategy of livelihoods very much dependent on local resourses such as non-timber forest products that will guarantee a minimal inclome to help look after the family. And with the growing privatisation of land in rural India access to ponds, pathways, firewood, fodder and water is becoming more difficult and therefore undermining many livelihoods and basic welfare.

The Visible Work, Invisible Women exhibition has been viewed by well over half a million people in India. Add to that the many thousands who have now seen the photographs overseas. For more information on the exhibition and its history, click here.

Not only is Mr Sainath an excellent journalist and speaker he is a very talented photographer. More importantly, he seems to be one of a very small group intent on capturing the realities and hardship of rural life in less wealthy countries.

All the way with CDJ

The latest issue of Community Development Journal is dedicated to Community Development and the Arts.

Fillums

While on the subject of 'participatory photography' I suppose I should also mention 'participatory video' an area that in recent years has grown rapidly. Like photography, video can also be a powerful tool by giving voice to those individuals and groups that are often marginalised and rarely involved in consultation and dialogue. All you need to know by way of introduction can be found at the excellent Insight website including examples of participatory video from North and South (I am talking globally here) with a range of downloadable documents and information about training events.

To learn about the use of participatory video as a tool for monitoring and evaluation click here.

Art for social change?

Nanci Lee, of the Coady International Institute in Canada, believes strongly in the transformative power of art to effect social change.

'As an educator-artist the opportunities in this area excite me. Some of the
most inspiring work I have seen in education has been in this arena.
Circus-training used to help women who have suffered from violence re-claim
their bodies. Theatre professionals working with streetkids to produce plays
about poverty and homelessness. Collective murals used to help communities share
their ideas and history.'

Read more about what Nanci has to say here. I would love to hear about individuals and groups doing similar work here in Ireland.

Photography as a tool for community voice

Since posting earlier describing the young refugee photographic essay supported by International Medical Corps UK and National Geographic my friend Luigi has been in touch with other similar initiatives that I thought deserve their own separate posting. 'Photovoice blends a grassroots approach to photography and social action by providing cameras to people with the least access to those who make decisions affecting their lives. Photovoice has 3 main goals: to enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns; to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about personal and community issues through large and small group discussions of photographs; and to reach policy makers.'

For further information check the following sites:
Caroline Wang's PHOTOVOICE site
Photovoice (appears to be a different site but with same name and aims)
The Communication Initiative
Unheard Voices, Hidden Lives

Postcards from Home; Community Development through Participatory Photography is a brief powerpoint presentation that will be of use to those thinking of starting a participatory photography initiative.

If you are interested in a more detailed treatment of 'participatory photography' click here or go to the papers written by Caroline Wang on her website.

While a powerful tool for planning, M&E etc. there are important ethical implications that need to be worked through when undertaking an initiative of this sort.

'Whose reality counts?'

Photography is a versatile and powerful tool. How many of us carry around vivid images of people and events that have been caught on camera? But photography can also be a powerful tool in many aspects of rural development. Most often photography is used by 'outsiders' to capture aspects of rural development practice but when we 'hand over the camera' to 'insiders' it can become a very powerful tool indeed throwing up new perspectives and ideas. A few months ago I visited an exhibition in London where young children in a refuge camp in Africa had been provided with cameras and given basic photography training. The project encouraged children living as refugees to express their feelings of displacement and interpretations through the medium of the photograph. As you can see the outcomes were indeed impressive. I have attended other exhibitions using a similar approach and indeed it can be very empowering for people who would usually not have the chance or luxury to get behind a camera. In some exceptional cases it has lead to a new livelihood. And it doesn't have to involve expensive cameras. I have seen excellent, thoughtful photographs taken by young people using disposable cameras.

I wonder has anyone been involved in such exercises here in Ireland, north and south. I can think of a huge list of situations and contexts where such an idea could be tried in a positive way.