hungry child

[thelightofsound]

i've been contacted by a food bank to create an image for their new website. they are leaving it pretty wide open on what they want other than an image that conveys a hungry child and will encourage people to donate.

i'm trying to get some thoughts brewing on this and have searched a few places for some ideas. i figured you might be able to help too.


thanks :)

[DDCSD]

Maybe find an old style fridge and shoot it open with just a few things in it, or a child opening the door with almost nothing in it?

[Refemall]

Perhaps a supermarket aisle full of food, and next to that, a home cupboard that's bare.

[Dork Knight]

How about locating a child (about six/seven years old) you could use as your model, dirty him/her up so he/she looks grubby with some haggard clothes.

Perhaps a B&W picture showing the child sitting on a wooden box/crate, holding a piece of lettuce or similar and sat next to a refuse bin in an alley way - Perhaps at an angle where something like a food store could be seen in the background/end of the alley.

Help isn't far away, please donate to help feed a starving child today... or something.

[chauncey]

A shot at dinner time in the mess hall or a busy time when they're unloading food, anything that shows them passing out food.

[thelightofsound]

thanks for the input y'all. i forgot to mention that they would like this to have some vivid colors in it and want the child to occupy the majority of the frame. please keep the ideas coming. they are much appreciated. i don't have any trouble when someone asks me to go take a picture, but this whole creating the scene is something new to me. plus its charity work for a good cause. thanks again.

and oh yea, @ derek, you aren't near gregory are you? i've got family that lives there :)

[Jdumas]

Maybe find an old style fridge and shoot it open with just a few things in it, or a child opening the door with almost nothing in it?

I like the fridge idea but have the kid eating ketchup out of the bottle with a butter knife.

[KirkHMB]

Having seen many adverts for charities seeking donations to feed hungry children, their standard ad photos don't move me to donate. A large kids head in the middle of the shot doesn't always say DONATE to me.

[Tandem]

There was a Pulitzer Prize winning photo a few years back that showed a hungry child crawling toward a United Nations food camp while a vulture looked on. Might be a little over-kill but it got the message across.

[Raptor Reveller]

I find a 'staged' image for such a thing as child hunger may well loose impact if using a well nutritioned child model. How will a kid who's never been that hungry before be able to deliver a haunting, heart wrenching image? I need to believe whats infront of me is real rather than a representation of what is real. To take this seriously, think you may have to visit some fairly socially deprived areas and get the real deal.

[Michael_Lambert]

yea i like the Fridge idea, Maybe do it in a dark room using a low wattage bulb in the fridge to give it that dim look. in it maybe only have 1/2 drank bottle of juice couple or roating fruits and a plate with some leftovers from a few nights ago.

Shoot the child infront but underexposed so you don't actual id the child just a silouiet so it could be a boy or girl.

[Popper]

maybe a child sitting at a table in an empty kitchen with their head down or in their hands with an empty plate in front of them or even nothing on the table at all.

[ItsMike]

What about a Kid holding an empty plate?

[Dork Knight]

There was a Pulitzer Prize winning photo a few years back that showed a hungry child crawling toward a United Nations food camp while a vulture looked on. Might be a little over-kill but it got the message across.

Was that the photographer that killed himself not long afterwards?

[Rubi Jane]

What about a split frame shot?

On left side, a child looking sad, tired, maybe a little dirty or scruffy; something that portrays poverty and/or malnutrition. In front of them a dinner plate empty, or with little non-nutritious meal and a small glass of water. This side of frame might work in B&W or somewhat desaturated.

On right side, same child, bright alert, happy; looking well fed. I'd keep the same/similar clothes, the intention to portray what good nutrition can do for a child internally. The plate in front of them would illustrate a well balanced dinner (meat source, vegetables, grain/carbohydrate and a big glass of milk). This side of the frame would be bright, well saturated colour.

I see the frame spilt in half down the centre-line of the face, body & dinner plate.

[Tandem]

Was that the photographer that killed himself not long afterwards?
Yep, Kevin Carter - his state of depression was too much for him to handle. The photo he took is hard to look at without feeling sad.

[LBaldwin]

You want to be very very careful staging an image like this. Many will see it as a TRUTHFUL image, namely an editorial one. But yours if you follow advice here will be a set shot and the images needs to say so. Ethics for photographers are critical so that the public can trust the feeling and elements conveyed.

If you fail to state that it is a staged or posed image and the public thinks that it is real, they will give. And then when they find out that the image is a phoney your mug will be chased by every TV station in the area and the 501 will be discredited for publishing a falsehood. Find and locate a real client of the food bank, pay them for their time and get a signed models release from the parents. Then and this is critical, make sure that you state ON the image that this is a paid or compenstated endorser of the food bank.

Run this by a lawyer with a specialty in media relations for factual quality.

[thelightofsound]

ok, i'm liking your ideas and appreciate your thoughts.

les, you bring up a good point. but what if i didn't "stage" a photograph. what it it is just a picture of a child looking sad. would that be the same a staging a "hungry child" with no food on their plate?

[DDCSD]

and oh yea, @ derek, you aren't near gregory are you? i've got family that lives there :)

Actually almost exactly 200 miles from Gorilla country, been through there before though.

You want to be very very careful staging an image like this. Many will see it as a TRUTHFUL image, namely an editorial one. But yours if you follow advice here will be a set shot and the images needs to say so. Ethics for photographers are critical so that the public can trust the feeling and elements conveyed.

If you fail to state that it is a staged or posed image and the public thinks that it is real, they will give. And then when they find out that the image is a phoney your mug will be chased by every TV station in the area and the 501 will be discredited for publishing a falsehood. Find and locate a real client of the food bank, pay them for their time and get a signed models release from the parents. Then and this is critical, make sure that you state ON the image that this is a paid or compenstated endorser of the food bank.

Run this by a lawyer with a specialty in media relations for factual quality.

Good points.

[MattMoore]

or you could take a page from my childhood.....a counter with empty vodka bottles flanked by an empty cupboard

[chauncey]

One child a the dinner table, a plate with scraps, an opened 'fridge in the background with not much in it, and the child saying Grace for what he has.

I still remember with one of our adopted children, she was six at the time, was brought to our home. First thing that she did was to check out the fridge.
All six of them have their own stories.

[LBaldwin]

Just remember that the person in the image will or may be recognized by others. And they may not be old enough to seperate reality from fiction. Using a child in an ad has some landmines. Just think about those ED ads everywhere today. When they first started those ads they were tough to fill. Actors did not want to be associated with those products.

[yogestee]

Come over to Laos where 40% of under 5 year olds are malnourished..Here hunger is the real thing not something staged..

Jurgen
Laos