# Human Trafficking Awareness photo



## kaydee (Feb 27, 2014)

First time trying a black and white portrait. This one was for human trafficking awareness. Please let me know what can be improved upon. I can handle it!


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## timor (Feb 27, 2014)

kaydee said:


> Please let me know what can be improved upon. I can handle it!


Good. 
Idea itself is a separate issue. 
The pic shows not sufficient work with lights. You have shadows on the wall and face. Will be also nice to have the hand and face in a little different tons, so they may create better 3D feel. IMO. 
Plus welcome to TPF. Have a fun with us.


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## erinkay (Feb 27, 2014)

I'm newish to photography, but this photo doesn't really do anything for me. It seems a little emotionless, especially for an image that is supposed to be relevant in the conversation about human trafficking. I think the model needs a little more emotion & perhaps the post-processing could be a little more intense somehow...


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## rexbobcat (Feb 27, 2014)

The lighting does seem a bit bright and flat for a topic that is very dark and serious.


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## jenko (Feb 28, 2014)

It's a worthwhile subject, for sure, but to be honest I am just not getting anything emotionally in this shot, and given the subject matter I think it is important to provoke feeling. 

I can overlook lighting and technical things if a shot produces an authentic emotion. This is where the shot really fails for me.


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## Designer (Feb 28, 2014)

What Jenko said.


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## xj0hnx (Feb 28, 2014)

erinkay said:


> I'm newish to photography, but this photo doesn't really do anything for me. It seems a little emotionless, especially for an image that is supposed to be relevant in the conversation about human trafficking. I think the model needs a little more emotion & perhaps the post-processing could be a little more intense somehow...





jenko said:


> It's a worthwhile subject, for sure, but to be honest I am just not getting anything emotionally in this shot, and given the subject matter I think it is important to provoke feeling.
> 
> I can overlook lighting and technical things if a shot produces an authentic emotion. This is where the shot really fails for me.



I think the lack of emotion is appropriate for the message. If I am reading it right, it's a subject that doesn't get the emotion it should, the attention it should, people are apathetic towards it because it's one of those subjects that you really don't hear about unless you live in an area effected by it. But that's just my take.


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## tirediron (Feb 28, 2014)

First and foremost, how does this represent human trafficking?  My first thought was that this was a print that had been submitted to a magazine and been rejected.  As others have mentioned, this image doesn't really seem to inspire any emotion; having said that, I'm not 100% sure how I would represent the topic if challenged to create the image, so I'm not much help there.  

Regardless, I think some dramatic lighting is needed here: Start by gridding a large reflector and raising it up and moving it so that it is just forward of the subject's left (image right) side and cutting across her face.  Place her against a dark background (with a LOT more separation) and then put a rimlight behind her.


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## Designer (Feb 28, 2014)

A different concept would help.  There is nothing about the composition that indicates what the topic is.


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## Tailgunner (Feb 28, 2014)

jenko said:


> It's a worthwhile subject, for sure, but to be honest I am just not getting anything emotionally in this shot, and given the subject matter I think it is important to provoke feeling.
> 
> I can overlook lighting and technical things if a shot produces an authentic emotion. This is where the shot really fails for me.



Agreed.

This is a serious and emotional subject, and I applaud you for taking it on and trying to bring light to this subject. I just feel like a photo involving this subject should provoke serious emotional feelings. It needs to tell a story of suffering and cruelty...not in a morbid way, just something that catches my attention and says, you need to help prevent this horrific and tragic thing from happening to any individual. 

Thanks again, for bring light to this subject and hope it helps people.


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## charlie76 (Feb 28, 2014)

Ditch the shadow behind her and center the X on her mouth below her nose. It is off-center


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## e.rose (Feb 28, 2014)

tirediron said:


> First and foremost, how does this represent human trafficking?



There's a movement going on. Next time you're out and about keep an eye out.

I saw it while I was at Michael's yesterday. There was a girl in the paint aisle with a red 'X' on her hand, and my first thought was that she had painted her hand to test out a color or something 

But when I came home and jumped online I saw another photo of someone else with a red 'X' on her hand and it referenced human trafficking, and then it clicked.

The red 'X', from what I gather, is part of a movement of people showing their support against human trafficking (that statement seems contradictory, ha).

It's sort of like the whole "change your profile picture to XYZ in support of anti-child abuse stuff", on Facebook.

I'm generally against the stupid FB games people play, but for some reason this one resonates with me. I think because while, not to belittle these issues, people are aware of breast cancer and the fact that child abuse happens, A LOT of people don't really consider human trafficking to be a... real... problem. I think it seems to people to be one of those things that only happens to people in other countries, or something that USED to happen but doesn't anymore... or something that only happens in Liam Neeson movies. 

So while I get what Kaydee is doing...

Concerning the photo:

I agree it's too... bright. Or something.

I would honestly drop the brightness of the light, and pull yourself and it farther away from the wall so you don't have that shadow and your background is a little darker. And concerning your B&W conversion, I would make it much heavier... contrasty... something to make more visual impact.

As it stands right now, I see a pretty girl, with a red 'X' on her hand trying to make a statement about an important issue, but not making a TON of *visual* impact.

Also... and I know this sounds silly... but it bothers me where the 'X' is on your hand. I feel like you need to move it closer to your fingers so that your hand can move over your mouth more to the left side of the frame. I dunno WHY... it just feels unbalanced to me.


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## e.rose (Feb 28, 2014)

The red 'X' kind of reminds me of a project our student counsel body did in school once.

It was to raise awareness against drunk driving, and they all had white X's on their cheeks, which was supposed to mean that they couldn't speak and we weren't allowed to talk to them, because it was supposed to be like they were gone, having been killed by a drunk driver. They were only allowed to speak in class to the teacher like normal, but in between classes, lunches, etc., or before/after class before the lesson got started, they weren't allowed to interact with anyone.

I don't know what the official word on the red X is for this particular movement, but to me it says, "It could even happen to me, and it needs to be stopped."


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## Josh66 (Feb 28, 2014)

tirediron said:


> First and foremost, how does this represent human trafficking?


Agreed - I never would have made that connection it you didn't tell us that's what it was for.



e.rose said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > First and foremost, how does this represent human trafficking?
> ...



I still don't see it "clicking".  What does a red X on a hand have to do with trafficking?

Google Images search for "human trafficking".  I don't see any red X's, but I do see a lot of photos that convey trafficking a lot better than this.


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## e.rose (Feb 28, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > First and foremost, how does this represent human trafficking?
> ...



It's this, dude:

END IT : Shine a Light on Slavery

:sillysmi:


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## Gavjenks (Feb 28, 2014)

1) I don't get the concept, maybe. Is it just people don't talk about human trafficking as much as they should? If so, that same image could apply to 40 billion other causes as well. It would be nice to have some concept to the photo more specific to human trafficking, so that *that *cause sticks in my mind and I remember to maybe do something about it later, rather than just "_something _isn't getting talked about enough." Or am I missing something?

2) It looks like you lit this with a bare lightbulb 20 feet away. You need to invest in a softbox or similar diffuser


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## Designer (Feb 28, 2014)

Oh, I see.  Apparently the entire "movement" needs to be perpetuated in the social media universe.  Additionally, nerds such as myself are not aware of the effort even when shown an image that was made specifically to meld with similar images.  

Since they did not bother to consult a graphic designer as to what symbolism might convey a message, the imagery is completely lost on the great unwashed multitudes.  That's too bad.

Good luck with your little movement.


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## Gavjenks (Feb 28, 2014)

> Good luck with your little movement.


It's not a great photo, but there's no call here for demeaning the cause of ending human trafficking, which is obviously pretty damn important...


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## Josh66 (Feb 28, 2014)

Gavjenks said:


> > Good luck with your little movement.
> 
> 
> It's not a great photo, but there's no call here for demeaning the cause of ending human trafficking, which is obviously pretty damn important...


It didn't read that way to me.

It just seems to be more of a 'join our clique' fashion statement than anything else.  Some secret meaning that only those in the clique know about.

As an awareness piece - for any topic really - I think it totally fails.  If Emily did not post that link, I would be left wondering what it is we're not supposed to talk about.  Or does the X mean that we _are_ supposed to start talking about "it"?  And are "we" just women, or everyone?


As a photo, I don't think it's bad.  As an awareness piece, it needs a lot of work.  IMO, it fails without some text in the margins to tell us what the hell we're supposed to think when we see it.


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## o hey tyler (Feb 28, 2014)

Designer said:


> Oh, I see.  Apparently the entire "movement" needs to be perpetuated in the social media universe.  Additionally, nerds such as myself are not aware of the effort even when shown an image that was made specifically to meld with similar images.  Since they did not bother to consult a graphic designer as to what symbolism might convey a message, the imagery is completely lost on the great unwashed multitudes.  That's too bad.  Good luck with your little movement.



This. Particularly the "nerds such as myself."


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## Gavjenks (Feb 28, 2014)

A quick googling of human trafficking shows two alternatives that do a much clearer job of visually communicating this topic:
1) Bar codes on a girl's face. Way too blunt for my taste, but might get you thinking in a different direction.
2) Same as the OP, but instead of her own hand, a big burly man hand with the other one on her shoulder. Changes everything. Suddenly becomes obviously oppression/slavery, not just not talking about stuff, while still ALSO communicating the silence aspect.


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## tecboy (Feb 28, 2014)

You might want to do more researches on this topic.  Have more creative approach on your image.


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## JacaRanda (Feb 28, 2014)

e.rose said:


> The red 'X' kind of reminds me of a project our student counsel body did in school once.
> 
> It was to raise awareness against drunk driving, and they all had white X's on their cheeks, which was supposed to mean that they couldn't speak and we weren't allowed to talk to them, because it was supposed to be like they were gone, having been killed by a drunk driver. They were only allowed to speak in class to the teacher like normal, but in between classes, lunches, etc., or before/after class before the lesson got started, they weren't allowed to interact with anyone.
> 
> I don't know what the official word on the red X is for this particular movement, but to me it says, "It could even happen to me, and it needs to be stopped."



My daughter's senior class in high school did something like that.  They even had ambulances and triage areas set up on campus.  It was extremely emotional to say the least. Tears galore.


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## Tiller (Feb 28, 2014)

As a social media image, it works well enough. From a photograph standpoint, it doesn't.

I used to be very involved with the End It movement. It's a worthwhile cause. But images like this will only mean something to the people who know what you're talking about.


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## runnah (Feb 28, 2014)

I thought she was straight edge. Do kids even identify with that these days?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ti-8LQ66Hs/Ty3FVeC6mMI/AAAAAAAAANU/j_t-RQKXohQ/s1600/oosjulian.jpg


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## Tiller (Feb 28, 2014)

runnah said:


> I thought she was straight edge. Do kids even identify with that these days?  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ti-8LQ66Hs/Ty3FVeC6mMI/AAAAAAAAANU/j_t-RQKXohQ/s1600/oosjulian.jpg



Since I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm going to say no


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## runnah (Feb 28, 2014)

Tiller said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> > I thought she was straight edge. Do kids even identify with that these days?  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ti-8LQ66Hs/Ty3FVeC6mMI/AAAAAAAAANU/j_t-RQKXohQ/s1600/oosjulian.jpg
> ...



Big scene that started in DC area. Straight edges means no drugs, drinking, sex etc... Basically Mormons but with more beating people up and hardcore music.


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## Designer (Feb 28, 2014)

If they're not soliciting help from about 98% of Americans, it is going to remain a little movement.


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