Stories

Mini project one consisted of making a collage with a variety of pictures selected from the AP Images database. All in all, it was a pretty simple assignment.

However, I found myself doing something that I think is significant and important to the class: attempting to create a narrative with my collage.

I was interested in migrants from Mexico to the U.S. initially, but after searching "Migrants" in the database I found lots of pictures of migrants from all over the world, and why not include them as well? So I attempted to tell the story of a world full of migrants with my collage. It's a bit of an abstract story. Perhaps it would be hard to see the progression. I told it through the layout of the collage.

So there's my final project. Eight pictures of different migrants trying to live their best life. I liked the idea of "FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT," as it says on the banner in the top left image. I took inspiration from that to try to tell the story not of people who have found themselves in very unfortunate circumstances, but of people who are using their legs to get them somewhere better than they were before. Sure they may suffer, but they are free.

After the "FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT" image I wanted to show such movement. As it turns out, there are a variety of ways for people to get around. Each image of people migrating is from a different country and showcases a different method of travel: by train, by taxi, by boat, and by legs.

Finally, I wanted to portray life after migration. People simply living their lives to the best of their abilities, even if they have ended up in a city of tents. So that's where the collage ends, but it's not where their story ends and I hope that is also evident in my work.

To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting to get anything out of this project. I thought I would be throwing pictures on a page and calling it a day, but I realized that there can be a purpose behind everything and images can tell a powerful story.