Sensational images of poverty are often used to frame issues of humanitarian aid to advocate for a cause, design programs, or raise funds. This practice, often called “poverty porn,” represents people living in poverty as victims rather than as people capable and determined to define their own future.

 

From multiple photos of rape victims in the Congo used to raise funding in annual reports, to repeated images of squatting South Asian women looking up at Western aid workers, to pictures of naked and emaciated children lying in the rubble after Haiti’s earthquake, to initiatives that seek donations of used underwear to send to Africa, a group of us saw that questionable instances of framing and narrative were rampant. 

 

We decided we needed to create more dialogue and debate around this topic. So over the past few years, we have been working on building a platform that actively aims to foster discussion on the way communities are portrayed and media is produced, and how communities can be brought into the conversation about how they are represented.

 

 

 

The project’s creators are a group of practitioners whose experience spans humanitarian aid, transmedia storytelling, process and service design, ethnography, visual thinking, social innovation, and technology. We came together because each of us has faced the challenge of representing communities in our work. And we had individually seen numerous examples of “poverty porn.” We recognized that the questions are many and complex, and that there is a need for a larger public discussion about ethical representation to shift the focus from aid to agency.

 

The project is a multimedia platform that explores the way we see, listen and frame stories of “the poor” — and how respectful and relevant storytelling can create more context and nuance, and depict more complex realities. We aim to engage practitioners, educators, journalists, and students in the question: How do we as a community dedicated to social impact maintain local agency, partnership, andrelevant, respectful narrative as core values of our work?

 

The website and blog will source content from a diverse global set of authors and will serve as an educational resource and discussion forum around visual literacy, ethnography, and narrative integrity.

 

We will be expanding over time to develop a discussion and salon series, research, commissioned and submitted commentary, and an educational curriculum.

 

We invite you to explore the site. Let us know your thoughts on how to generate constructive conversation and learning on eradicating poverty porn and creating meaningful, effective content for social impact.

Project Models: Narrative Design for Social Change from lksriv

Building Community from lksriv

Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 7:00 PM

Join us for an exciting *first ever* discussion of Transmedia in Emerging Markets. Lina Srivastava leads a fireside chat with producers actively working in that space. Focusing on transmedia/integrated media strategy and the potential for its use in business, film and activism, Lina will present case studies from Africa.

LINA SRIVASTAVA is the Principal of Lina Srivastava Consulting, a strategic consultancy working with companies and organizations to positively transform communities through art, culture and technology. An attorney by training, Lina is a first-mover in transmedia for social change, having been involved in successful cross-media campaigns for several documentaries, including Oscar-winning Born into Brothels and the Emmy-nominated The Devil Came on Horseback. The former Executive Director of Kids with Cameras, and the past Interim Executive Director of the Association of Video and Filmmakers, she is currently the organizational strategist for VODO and for 3Generations and Director, social change strategy team, for the Resist Network and its forthcoming film Who Is Dayani Cristal?. Lina has provided strategic consulting and projectdesign to a group of organizations dedicated to social impact, ranging from UNESCO to BYkids. Website: http://linasrivastava.com  Twitter: @lksriv

 

HUGO SOSKIN, co-Producer of 18 Days in Egypt, is a 2011 Knight Foundation Fellow who works with interactive documentaries. He has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago, where he worked part time for the William Benton Fellowships in Broadcast Journalism. He later interned with Mail & Guardian TV in South Africa, working on shows about everyday life and township businesses. He helped coordinate the series “Africa Express” for the South African Broadcasting Company. He researched for the BBC before returning to Chicago and a job as a producer for Tower Productions. Since 2003, he has been a freelance producer, writer and director. He has worked on many projects for the History Channel, including the 2009 award-winning documentary “JFK: Three Shots that Changed America.” His other work — for PBS, A&E, and museum exhibits — includes “History Detectives”, as well as pieces on forensic anthropologists at the Smithsonian, and the history of Wall Street. Website:  http://www.18daysinegypt.com/  Twitter: @hugorupert
 

 

G. KOFI ANNAN is a strategist, and technologist. A digital navigator, he partners with brands like Puma and Pfizer in translating business and consumer trends, identifying opportunities, and crafting culturally-relevant on and offline strategies. Kofi has over 10 years of professional experience leading and collaborating with teams at top organizations, including Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy.

Alongside his client work, Kofi has presented his insights on digital strategies and consumer trends to audiences at Harvard University, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, and the SXSW Interactive Conference among others. He writes/edits 3 trends blogs, and is a frequent contributor to multiple global business channels including The Global Post (international news agency), and BusinessInsider.com (one of TIME’s top 25 business blogs). Website: http://www.gkofiannan.com/  Twitter: @gkofiannan

 

LAYNA FISHER Co-Director of the Sierra Leone International Film Festival, has helped to realize film festivals around the world through her production company LawnFish, She has worked from Cannes in France to Tribeca FIlm Festival in New York, and Doha, Qatar to Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. She has consulted, produced and done logistics for over ten years working on concerts, awards show, art exhibits, festivals and events such as the Popes visit to New York, Barcelona’s world yacht race and the massive art exhibits Waterfalls and The Gates in NY. She has worked extensively with Sierra Leone since 2002 and has been living in Sierra Leone for most of the last 3 years. Her entertaining documentary of the first Sierra Leone democratic Paramount Chief election, The Candidates, will release in early 2012. She also works with several NGOs within the country as a consultant, filmmaker and artist. Currently she is the Director of the inaugural Sierra Leone International Film Festival. Website: http://www.sierraleoneinternationalfilmfestival.com/  Twitter: @LawnFish

 

FRANCO SACCHI Born in Zambia, and raised in Italy. Franco Sacchi is the Founder of the Nollywood Workshops (http://nollywoodworkshops.org). He directs, produces, and edits independent documentaries on a range of topical subjects. His feature length documentary, “Waiting for Armageddon,” was released theatrically and on DVD in 2010 by First Run Features and was acquired in 2011 by the Independent Film Channel (IFC). His 2007 documentary “This is Nollywood,” won the Audience Award at the Abuja International Film Festival (Nigeria) and was broadcast internationally. “American Eunuchs,” his first feature length documentary as director/producer/editor, aired on the Sundance Channel in the US and was an official selection in dozens of film festivals including the prestigious International Documentary Film festival in Amsterdam (IDFA). Between 2002 and 2005 Franco collaborated with numerous news magazines of RAI International (Italian Public Television) as a reporter/producer/editor. Franco also directs and produces films for NGOs and universities with a focus on economic development and Africa. He is committed to film education, and has developed curricula and served as an instructor in workshops all over the world. His films have been screened at the Lincoln Center, The Anthology Film Archive, in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Franco graduated in political science at the University of Bologna. He received a Masters of Arts in Visual Arts at Emerson College in Boston, MA. Website: http://www.francosacchi.com Twitter: @FrancoSacchi