Eight Ways to Change the World
Produced by Panos Pictures, this online and in-person photography exhibition uses visual communication to draw attention and aid to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Eight photographers, each sponsored by a leading British development agency, produced a set of photographs from the developing world, along with a personal testimony about what the experience meant to him or her. Meant to ignite action, the photography communicates messages such as, "Just because poverty is a long way away doesn't mean there is nothing we can do to tackle it." Participating agencies include the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Concern, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), ActionAid, Plan International, Interact Worldwide, the Panos Institute, and WaterAid.
Communication Strategies
This project uses the medium of photography to personalise what can otherwise be abstract global goals, raising awareness among members of the public and other viewers and challenging world leaders to deliver on their promises. It is timed to coincide with the September 2005 United Nations summit to review progress on the 8 MDGs, which were set in 2000. Click here for background on these goals.
Eight Ways to Change the World is viewable on The Guardian website and at a free exhibition at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, on London's South Bank from September 7-18. It showcases the work of Panos Pictures' award-winning photographers, who seek to illustrate familiar issues from new and challenging perspectives. The photographic essays are designed to bring the lives of ordinary people living in poverty sharply into focus.
The power of ordinary citizens' participation in action and advocacy around the Goals is a key programme theme. The exhibition challenges visitors to make a pledge to do one thing themselves to change the world. The idea is that "Only world leaders can deliver aid, cancel debt and make trade fair. But it is ordinary citizens who have brought them to the negotiating table, by standing up and demanding justice." Their pledges were to be displayed, pinned up with their portraits, as a colourful interactive installation representing the eighth goal: to develop a global partnership for development. The idea is that community members are a pivotal part of stimulating that partnership process.
Eight Ways to Change the World is viewable on The Guardian website and at a free exhibition at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, on London's South Bank from September 7-18. It showcases the work of Panos Pictures' award-winning photographers, who seek to illustrate familiar issues from new and challenging perspectives. The photographic essays are designed to bring the lives of ordinary people living in poverty sharply into focus.
The power of ordinary citizens' participation in action and advocacy around the Goals is a key programme theme. The exhibition challenges visitors to make a pledge to do one thing themselves to change the world. The idea is that "Only world leaders can deliver aid, cancel debt and make trade fair. But it is ordinary citizens who have brought them to the negotiating table, by standing up and demanding justice." Their pledges were to be displayed, pinned up with their portraits, as a colourful interactive installation representing the eighth goal: to develop a global partnership for development. The idea is that community members are a pivotal part of stimulating that partnership process.
Development Issues
Millennium Development Goals, Overseas Development Assistance.
Key Points
Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to UN secretary general Kofi Annan, asserts that this photography "highlights our common humanity. We look at photos of people living in extreme poverty but see first and foremost their humanity and spirit and dedication, even in the midst of extreme deprivation. Their eyes don't call for our pity but for our camaraderie and partnership and empathy."
Panos Pictures is a London-based independent photo agency representing photojournalists worldwide. Its photographers document social issues and geographical areas which are under-reported, misrepresented, or ignored in an attempt "to provide fresh perspectives on the world."
Panos Pictures is a London-based independent photo agency representing photojournalists worldwide. Its photographers document social issues and geographical areas which are under-reported, misrepresented, or ignored in an attempt "to provide fresh perspectives on the world."
Partners
Panos Pictures, The Guardian, DFID, Concern, VSO, ActionAid, Plan International, Interact Worldwide, the Panos Institute, and WaterAid.
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