Blog Post 8 WP1: Pre-Write Assignment

The photographer of this photo is Dominique, born in 1991. Bihonda Dominique arrived at the Imbabazi Orphanage May 6th, 1998 at age seven. He was brought to the orphanage by Roberto Mauri of Doctors Without Boarders. He told him that he saw both of his parents killed by machetes at Byumba. For nearly six months he never smiled. Now he is a good student and is at the Kanzenze Secondary School.

I found this photo on the website, Through the Eyes of Children. It is a project that began as a photographic workshop in 2000. It was created by photographer, David Jiramek, and was inspired by Rosamond Carr, founder of the Imbabazi Orphanage.

It first began with using disposable cameras, the children took pictures to share with others. To show them their community, and to find beauty as the country they live in struggles continually to rebuild. The pictures were, at first, developed locally and displayed on the walls of the orphanage and put in photo albums by the children. However, in 2001, the children were invited by the US Embassy to exhibit their work in the capital, Kigali, where the photographs were sold and all the proceeds went towards the education of the children.

In a country plagued by an internal war there is strong separation of the people and with this woman and her two children in dark clothing and in the shadows is separated from the other woman surrounded by other children could be showing this separation. Another contrast that could be demonstrated in this photo could be the wealth of families. If there are poor people in a land then there must be people with money. The woman standing in the shadows could be a representation of the disenfranchised in Africa. The woman with the several children and bright clothes could demonstrate a family with more money, after all, she has more mouths to feed.

On account of the fact that there are no buildings or houses in het photograph it makes me feel as though housing is scarce, and with the people not wearing shoes, living conditions are horrible.

Works Cited
"About the Project." Through the Eyes of Children. Web. .