Day: October 29, 2010
One Tribe
Music interlude provided by the Black Eyed Peas.
Go on! Switch off for 4:41 and relax!
Together we can build a bridge to a better world.
What Can I Do?
Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund in closing a conference at The Aspen Institute asks perhaps the most important question in influencing extreme poverty: What Can I Do?
She observes the most important thing is our human connectedness. Participation. Collaboration. Bridge building.
Elsewhere in her book titled The Blue Sweater, Novogratz tells a story which symbolises how we are all connected.
This clip gives five pragmatic actions anyone can participate in to make a difference. Her sense of urgency and passion for this situation is evident.
The ability of the individual to influence extreme poverty is what the 10 City Bridge Run seeks to address. Not with lone souls fighting against poverty, but rather together building bridges to make a difference through collective action.
Stop and ask yourself now, yes now, seriously- stop and ask yourself:
What can I do?
Shooting Poverty
Oxfam explore communicating poverty through film. This is a great initiative shared by my mate Ted featuring a short film: Bang for Your Buck.
In Burundi, Africa, a grenade costs the same price as a pint of beer.
Check out this clip and share it to rate the video. It is a story worth telling.
How can we use creative expression as a way of communicating complex themes, particularly to an audience whose attention is difficult to reach? The audience I am addressing through the 10 City Bridge Run is the leaders of the G20 member states. This is about collective action and collaboration- it is not something I can do on my own, and it represents the voice of many individuals coming together.
How might we best capture ‘human bridges’ on photograph for use as a pictorial petition?
Tell A Story- Your Story
Ridley Scott gives good instruction in this clip below titled Life In A Day. It was part of a collaborative video project he started earlier this year.
Scott gives two good pieces of advice in telling a story through capturing an image:
- It must be personal.
- Capture what appeals to you as the photographer/curator.
The 10 City Bridge Run is about participation. Not a spectator sport. It is about bridge-building. During the 30 days that I am running I will be seeking 24,000 photographs of ‘human bridges’ which will then be collated and sent to each leader of the G20 member states as a pictorial petition to appeal for action to reduce child mortality as a way of influencing extreme poverty.
What we do matters. It is not about waiting for the G20 countries to act- that is largely outside of our immediate influence. We can determine our actions, and make them meaningful.
Build the bridge. This is a powerful metaphor. How are you going to tell your story of a human bridge and what this means to make a difference?
Building Bridges 