Before researching the background on Rwandan orphans, the only knowledge on these children that I had was based off the cultural suggestions of the movie "Hotel Rwanda". This movie tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that ended in the death of over 800,000 Rwandan natives. In the movie it is shown how the death of these 800,000 people, mostly male adults, affected the country of Rwanda.

In this movie, however, there is not much background on the children and how they were affected by this incident. After furthering my research, I learned how entire families were murdered during the genocide, some leaving just the youngest child to fend for themselves. Most were forced to drop out of school and try to survive alone. Adding on to the hardships these children dealt with, HIV/AIDS is a huge problem for Rwanda. According to one of my sources, over 600,000 children were orphaned by 2001 due to this epidemic. The child mortality rate is also outrageously low in Rwanda- 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday.

After learning a little more about what these children have to endure, I really sympathized with the little boy in my photograph and understood the project “Through the Eyes of Children” more. These photographs not only serve as ways for these children to express themselves, but the project also helps rebuild the lives of these children by trying to get them back in school and onto a better life.

After thinking more about the lives of Rwandan children I moved on to my photograph. I dissected this photo into two parts: the child in the photo and Devota herself taking the picture. Because of his age I would assume that the little boy in my photograph was orphaned from HIV/AIDS opposed to the Rwandan genocide. His emotions of sorrow affect me a lot more now that I can think about what this child may have gone through. This child may not even live to be five years old according to Rwanda's mortality rates.

Looking outside of the photograph, I also thought about Devota, the photographer. I thought about what she may have gone through. She is old enough that she may have gone through the Rwandan genocide. I picture Devota taking a picture of this baby, a baby that was her a little over ten years ago- lonely and scared. Maybe this photograph was to show that there were problems back when she was a baby that still exist today. That there are still orphaned children in Rwanda struggling to live, that HIV/AIDS and violence in Rwanda contribute to this and that just because time has passed, the problem hasn’t disappeared.

Overall, I feel that knowing background on the subjects of the picture allows pathos to emerge more. I definitely felt more looking into the eyes of the crying baby when I could imagine what he had gone through.


Works Cited

"Orphan Crisis." Orphans of Rwanda.2008. http://www.orphansofrwanda.org/learn/orphan_crisis.php

After uncovering main details of my selected photo from a collection on Rwandan orphans, I realized there is even more to the picture that I missed during my first observation. I had looked quite a bit into the meaning of the photo, but had not looked into the technical aspects.

Devota, the photographer of this photo, was part of a project called “Through the Eyes of Children” that started in 2000. At first, the orphan children were simply given disposable cameras to take pictures of things close to them- themselves, their friends, and their country- to be displayed on their walls or in picture books. A year later, the U.S Embassy helped take this project to new heights: they offered the children a place to display their work and earn money to help their education. This is now what the project is all about: helping these orphans. I feel like knowing this background on why Devota was taking these pictures is helpful in developing a sense of technicality of the photo.

When looking at the untitled photo by Devota, I tried to do what the project intended: to put myself in her shoes. I imagined myself in Rwanda, looking through her eyes at this child. It wasn’t until I did this that I thought about where Devota was standing, and how she was standing, when she took this photograph. In this photo she had to have been squatting down: the angle is not looking down at the baby and is below the level of corn behind him. Also, on the left hand side of the photo there is what looks to be a pant leg. This helps contribute to the idea of being on the baby’s level. This gives the photograph a more personal, up-close feeling and not a “candid-camera” feel.

During my first observation I made note that “The baby is the focus of the picture” and that he is the vector of attention. Upon further thinking, however, I feel that he is a major part but not the only focus. He is a little off centered, giving space in the photograph for the background contribute to the meaning of the photograph. While I do look at the baby right away, I get distracted and look at the gas can and nest of blankets as well. All of these things help contribute to the emotion that the baby displays (logos contributing to ethos). The photograph does not just show a close-up of a crying baby. It shows a half-clothed baby sitting in dirt and old material, unsupervised, with trash lying around him. I would definitely say that with all of these details, levels of emotion are definitely raised.

When looking further into the picture to see if I could tell if much editing had occurred in this photograph, I could not find any other than possibly cropping. I think that the reason there is not any editing in this picture is because it is meant to be a “real life” still frame. It isn’t supposed to look manufactured or edited in special ways, it is meant to be a true life look into the lives of Rwanda orphans. I think this is more effective to me because it allows me to believe the picture. When things get too professional or technical it can lose its reliability. People believe straight-forward and honest ideas.

Overall, there were many technical aspects that went into my picture to help shape my ideas of what Devota wanted me to think about. I think that understanding and recognizing these aspects have helped me quite a bit and further understanding my photo.