Our images and that of our classmates can be viewed at:
https://medium.com/@HabitatAu/rmit-and-habitat-for-humanity-photography-series-home-21c1298348b5
This assignment was a collaboration with my fellow classmate, Angela Iaria
What:
This project will consist of a single image that is focused on the event that is a family meal, most likely to be a traditional Sunday roast dinner. The image is to encompass more than just the food itself, it is to show the family sitting down together preparing to enjoy not only the food in front of them but also each others company. The focus will be more heavily on the families interaction with the table, food and each other. The image is to be a cohesive look at a traditional family dinner with importance on the family being together in a way that many of us forget how lucky we are to experience.
This project will consist of a single image that is focused on the event that is a family meal, most likely to be a traditional Sunday roast dinner. The image is to encompass more than just the food itself, it is to show the family sitting down together preparing to enjoy not only the food in front of them but also each others company. The focus will be more heavily on the families interaction with the table, food and each other. The image is to be a cohesive look at a traditional family dinner with importance on the family being together in a way that many of us forget how lucky we are to experience.
Why:
“On any given night in Australia, 1 in 200 people are homeless”. That's 100,000 people homeless in Australia alone. For being such a wealthy and lucky country, this number is far too high. I am not aiming to try and shoot the obvious traditional look on homelessness in Australia, such as a homeless man sleeping at the bus stop with his few possessions. I have decided instead to go from a different angle and shoot an integral part of many families lives; sitting down together at the end of the day with food, warmth, family and love. Therefore rather than imply the obvious when it comes to homelessness, I am choosing to shoot essentially a happy family scene, something we all take for granted. This is in order to make the audience think about what they would be missing were they without a home and to build empathy for Australia’s homeless.
“On any given night in Australia, 1 in 200 people are homeless”. That's 100,000 people homeless in Australia alone. For being such a wealthy and lucky country, this number is far too high. I am not aiming to try and shoot the obvious traditional look on homelessness in Australia, such as a homeless man sleeping at the bus stop with his few possessions. I have decided instead to go from a different angle and shoot an integral part of many families lives; sitting down together at the end of the day with food, warmth, family and love. Therefore rather than imply the obvious when it comes to homelessness, I am choosing to shoot essentially a happy family scene, something we all take for granted. This is in order to make the audience think about what they would be missing were they without a home and to build empathy for Australia’s homeless.
I believe that we are saturated with imagery in todays culture and it is very hard to do something different, something new. Because of this it is so important when it comes to advertising, especially for not for profits, to stay away from the obvious subject choice as no matter how beautifully executed, well lit or composed it is, it has been seen and done so many times and will not make the impact we so desperately need it to. I hope that this explains my decision to shoot homelessness from the angle of the families blessed enough to have a roof over their heads each night.
We wanted to show the first image in action - to contrast it against someone who was homeless, sitting in a bus shelter with their only belongings. We see the first image we made as a stark contrast to the reality of many of Australia's homeless.
