Images of Fairtrade Introduction Bournemouth is becoming a Fairtrade Town and we re very proud of this. But we want to know what Fairtrade means to people in school, what you think this means for the Town and the wider world, and if you think it s important. We would like to commission you to tell us what you think about this through a photography exhibition so that we can share this with other people in Bournemouth, including the Council and business people. We want you to read the information below about Fairtrade, and then use the Photographic Brief to capture images that express your thoughts effectively. If you want to take part register your school with wave before Friday 21 st December 2012. We d like each school taking part to submit between 8-12 photos to wave arts education agency between now and February 22 nd 2013. We ll then put a panel of judges together and choose a set of images to be part of a public exhibition in Bournemouth so that people can see your work and hear your opinions about Fairtrade. Email: info@waveartseducation.org.uk
Background Information Fairtrade Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. In business and international trade, it can be easy for big companies to get away with paying producers (the people who grow or make the product such as tea or coffee) very little, whilst charging the consumer (people who buy the product in shops) a lot. This means their profits are very big, but that the people who really need the money, the producers, are left with very little. Fairtrade is about getting big companies to pay sustainable prices to producers. This means paying a price that reflects the real value of their product, and allows the producer to live and continue producing without fear of poverty. Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives. It s all about what is called global power dynamics and how to change these to make the world fairer. Before Fairtrade, the power in this situation sat with big companies they could buy huge amounts of product from a lot of very small individual producers and could therefore drive down prices to suit them. Individual producers would find it hard to negotiate since a big company could very easily find someone else to buy from, but a small producer wouldn t find another buyer very easily. Fairtrade is about bringing together a lot of these individual produces to have a bigger voice (for example if 100 local producers argued together for a better price the big company would need to listen), and about letting the consumer know what is going on so they can choose to buy from someone who treats their producers fairly, or takes advantage of them. For more information see www.fairtrade.org.uk
Fairtrade town Becoming a Fairtrade Town means supporting Fairtrade and using Fairtrade products as much as possible. It s a way for a Town to show that they want to help change unfair global trade practices and reduce poverty around the world. There are 5 things a Fairtrade Town is expected to do: Council the Council must agree to support Fairtrade, and use Fairtrade products wherever they can (e.g. in meetings) Commerce shops, supermarkets, petrol stations and newsagents across the town must sell at least four Fairtrade products, and restaurants, cafes and pubs must serve at least two products. Community community organisations (for example places of workshop, schools and colleges) support Fairtrade and use Fairtrade products wherever possible. Common Consensus local press, media and events help let people know about Fairtrade and being a Fairtrade Town Captains a group of people from across the town meet to decide what needs to be done to improve support and understanding for Fairtrade locally
Working to a brief Before taking photos, think about how and in what way you want to interpret the theme and photographic briefs. Think about what makes a photograph successful in fulfilling a brief, and why What role will composition or lighting play Theme: Briefs: Fairtrade Town What does Fairtrade mean to me My town and Fairtrade now and in the future What does Fairtrade look like / feel like / taste like Example Lesson Plan Form teams of 3 or 4 Activity briefing o Overview of what will happen o Discussion on the use of photography as a communication tool using icon images o Explain the theme and brief of the session using background information above o Discuss with the theme with the class (e.g. what do they know about Fairtrade, how does it affect them, what are the local and global implications) o How could they represent the theme through images, what would they photograph to represent the briefs o Basic photography techniques (e.g. lighting, composition, colour, contrast) Activity - taking photos o This could be around the school, or groups could spend a lesson thinking about representative objects to photograph then source these before the next lesson o Each group chooses 1 image they think best represents one element of the brief and creates a phrase to go with the image o Students present the image back to the class, explaining their thinking and what they feel the image says
Iconic images Image of the world taken from the Apollo 8 mission
Peace protest 1970 s
Harold Whittles hears for the first time ever after a doctor places an earpiece in his left ear.
Rockefeller Lunch Break
Protester Tiananmen Square 1989