A Grandmother Cared for a Young Girl Affected by HIV Photo taken by: James Nachtwey Presentation by: Daniel St. John

Background Information ●James Nachtwey is an anti-war photographer ●Photo taken in 2000 in South Africa ●Flooding affects South Africa early in the year, causimg an estimated 100,000 people needing to be evacuated.

Character: ●Grandmother looks tired, worn, and poverty- stricken, showing a tough life ●Both child and grandmother looking away from the camera, suggesting them looking for hope in the world ●Child looks in pain and suffering, and is holding onto grandmother, showing need for comfort and safety ●Picture of the Nativity in background comforting Jesus, pointing to how the grandmother and child need to be supported ●Mary and Joseph watching over Jesus like guardian angels, like the grandmother is to the child

Color: ●The Picture is taken in black and white, symbolizing depression and how a person can be so easily absorbed into darkness ●The dark spot on a seemingly light-gray wall symbolizes how everyone is faced with an adversity, even if everything seems to be going in their favor

Light: ●The shadows casted by the grandmother and child show how darkness is always lurking, and could present itself at any moment ●The lighter colors on the two characters’ faces suggest a brighter future at the end of the numerous hardships they are facing.

Angle: ●Angle is slightly bird’s-eye view, showing only tops and heads of characters’ bodies ●Nativity picture is crooked, suggesting a loss in faith, and how they are slowly losing hope ●Other people are absent from the picture, pointing to how the only person in the grandmother’s life is the child

Proportion: ●The grandmother and child are the most dominant subjects in the image followed by the painting in the background ●The two people being larger in the picture show how a person’s own decisions have a greater impact on their life instead of how a religion dictates their decisions.

Placement: ●Grandmother is more centered than the Nativity picture, showing her prominence in the child’s life ●Child is off to the side, resembling insignificance due to having HIV and not being able to take care of itself ●Nativity scene is placed in the corner, suggesting insignificance and how it has been ousted from their life

Setting: ●Due to a lack of sky, the time of day is unknown ●Action takes place in South Africa in 2000 ●A grandmother and a child look to the left of the image, possibly looking towards the better things in life

Nachtwey’s Message James Nachtwey photographed this picture in order to give people an idea of what was happening in other areas we may not know about that are suffering from poverty. Due to our lack of help in other areas of the world, people are unnecessarily suffering from poverty and diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Because of our failure to recognize that we can help others, people are starting to lose hope and faith, and are turning their backs on an external source of hope, yet still yearn for one. By turning their backs on hope and faith, more and more people are suffering. By realizing our important role in helping the less fortunate in other countries as well as our own, we can contribute to help form a better society as well as a better world living in generosity and selflessness, as opposed to selfishness and greed.

CCLAPPS Analysis Character: In this photograph, the grandmother looks tired, worn, and poverty-stricken, which shows evidence of tough life events. Both the child and grandmother are looking away from the camera, suggesting that they are looking for hope in the world. The child seems to be in pain and is suffering, as well as holding onto the grandmother, showing need for comfort and safety. The picture of the Nativity in background of Mary and Joseph comforting Jesus points to how the grandmother and child need to be supported, just like baby Jesus needed to be. Mary and Joseph watching over Jesus and wrapping him in a blanket shows how they resemble a guardian angel, just how the grandmother is a guardian angel to the child. Color: The Picture is taken in black and white, symbolizing depression and hardships, and how a person can be so easily absorbed into darkness. The dark spot on a seemingly light-gray wall symbolizes how everybody is faced with adversities, even if everything seems to be easygoing and carefree. The absence of color even furthers the emphasis on poverty and hardships with dull grays and a seemingly boring background. Light: The shadows casted by the grandmother and child shows how darkness is always lurking behind you at all times, and could present itself at any moment, whether it be in times of happiness or sadness. The lighter colors on the grandmother’s and child’s face suggest a brighter future at the end of the numerous hardships they are facing in their life. The light which surrounds Jesus is similar to the light that touches the grandmother’s and child’s face, because the light that surrounded Jesus proved that he was holy and would save people of their sins, and the light around the grandmother and child means that they too, will find hope and be saved.

CCLAPPS Analysis Continued Angle: The angle is slightly bird’s-eye view, which shows only the torsos and heads of both the grandmother’s and child’s body. The Nativity picture is crooked, suggesting a loss in faith, and how they are slowly losing hope in their lives. Other people are absent from the picture, pointing to how the only person in the grandmother’s life is the child, and how they both live in solitude, due to the lack of other people’s support and friendship. Proportion: The grandmother and child are the most dominant subjects in the image followed by the painting in the background, due to the lack of faith in the two people’s lives. The two people being larger in the picture show how a person’s own decisions and ideas have a greater impact on their life as opposed to how a religion can dictate the decisions in a person’s life. Also, the grandmother is even larger than the child, which shows her importance in the child’s life as a caretaker and a mother. Placement: In this picture, the grandmother is more centered than the Nativity picture and child, showing her prominence in the child’s life, instead of faith or religion. The child is off to the side, which resembles it’s insignificance due to having HIV and not being able to take care of itself. Because HIV is an illness that causes other sicknesses like the common cold or the flu to not completely leave the body, it is up to the grandmother to be the child’s main caretaker as it grows up.The Nativity scene is placed in the corner, suggesting its insignificance in their lifestyle and how it has been ousted from it. Setting: Because the viewers do not get a clear view of the sky or any source of time, the time of day is unknown. The photograph was taken in South Africa in the year The action in this picture is the grandmother and child looking towards the left of the image, which could be them looking for the better things in life, such as hope, or another reason to have faith in something again.