Small video cameras (GO PRO cameras) and microphones were issued to children who are participating in community development projects in Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Zambia and Malawi. Each child, after basic instruction in the use of the camera and microphone, set off to explore, discuss and represent their village and aspects of their lives that they felt were important to show other people.
The seminar is a chance to discuss how the use of cameras in this way may be useful to the communities and individuals involved. It is also a chance to observe this particular methodology which seeks to incorporate the perspectives of children. A short demonstration on the use of the small cameras to obtain quick simultaneous translations will also be conducted.
The project is a work in progress and is on going. It will be completed later in 2012.
Robert Nugent was a Visiting Fellow at the Digital Humanities Hub from 2010 - 2011. He is a Canberra based independent film maker, who also previously worked with the UN and the Central Land Council in Alice Springs. His films are End of the Rainbow (2007), No Dramas - recordings from Iraq (2008) and Memoirs of a Plague (2011). He has worked extensively in Asia and Africa for NGOs and the UN using film to document aspects of development and relief projects.