Transient Spaces

Week 10

Agenda

Blogging tips

Reflections on Born into Brothels

Born into Brothels

Kate discusses the difficulty of recruiting interviewees, and what possible solutions might be

Rob discusses recent legal and political events of interest to Australian internet users.

Jessie considers her community’s technical limitations, and the importance of making sure she is delivering content they can access.Kate has replied (Kate should republish and link her reply on her own blog)

Aliya is pondering how to edit down her interview footage, and quotes anexpert with relevant advice.

Born into Brothels

“Briski, a documentary photographer, went to Calcutta to photograph prostitutes. While there, she befriended their children and offered to teach the children photography to reciprocate being allowed to photograph their mothers. The children were given cameras so they could learnphotography and possibly improve their lives. Much of their work was used in the film, and the filmmakers recorded the classes as well as daily life in the red light district. The children's work was exhibited, and one boy was even sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam. Briski also recorded her efforts to place the children in boarding schools.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_into_Brothels)

Born into Brothels

My questions about this are mainly political. Such an uplifting story, it seems so good what the filmmakers did – empowered the children. Is it as simple as that? While they are better off, happier, more hopeful – good – have they also been exploited in ways they can’t understand? They have been made into a media commodity, by and for the relatively powerful West.

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388789/

The actual doco: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/born-into-brothels/

Images: stills from Born into Brothels