Monday, February 4, 2013

And Yet Another Photo Project Idea

Well its another day and I have another idea for a photography project! (whats that? 10 different series in the planning?). Tonight while reading CNN online I saw the photograph below with a story on Hillary Clinton and came up with an idea for a series I might try to do. What If I took a large format camera possibly the 8x10 and did head shot portraits of the girls who are part of this recovery centre (or another similar centre). The photographs would be head shot portraits and tell their story by looking close up at the facial expressions and eyes of the girls.. I could then print them large to 20x24 on a warm tone paper highlighting their humanity, innocence and the effect of the abuse on them. The work would be an attempt at extremely compassionate close up portraiture. 

Getting access to make the photos might be difficult, the people who run the place (rightfully so) are no doubt extremely protective of the girls who stay there. Working with the girls might be difficult also because of the abuse they have faced and communication difficulties. They would most likely be Cambodians or Vietnamese speakers, I can speak a  tiny bit of Khmer but know no Vietnamese, this might lead to more language tapes.

If I got a international or large city Canadian show I could include information detailing where donations could be made to help the center and the victims of sex trafficking. I could also put links on my blog or anywhere else online the work is shown that would direct people to where they could donate some money to help the centre. Maybe the photographs would help raise awareness and more practically maybe the work could raise money for the center.

"Lost Innocence" might work as a title for this work as well, this project is very similar to my other idea to photograph women who work the gogo bars of Thailand and the Philippines. I wonder if I could incorporate audio recordings somehow, have them telling their stories in their own words. First let them speak in their own voice and language on the tape, hen blending into an female English translator? More thought needed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2010 tour of a shelter run for sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.