Life Style Choices
Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia recently labeled indigenous Australians living on traditional lands as having made a "lifestyle choice". He believes that Australian tax money should not go to support them unless they are prepared to move to larger settlements (most likely away from their traditional country) - for efficiency of tax dollars!
This Abbottism could be used for many other situations where our government policy leads to injustice. How we choose to live our lives is often imposed - rather than a lifestyle choice.
These children are on Nauru. They were found to be genuine refugees.
Is it a lifestyle choice to be a refugee when the alternative is torture, slavery or death?
Original image source Sydney Morning Herald Website. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/uncertainty-over-fate-of-nauru-children-20120920-269hn.html
Choice of the final image
There were many images available of children in detention. This is one.
The image below was the one finally chosen.
This gif shows some of the stages I used in making this image.
I tested several fonts and colours, and different placements for the text, both over the child's arm and separately. In the end I chose Barbara Kruger's usual Futura Bold Italic.
Chosen image underneath.
Image source: http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/refugee-barbed-wire-slider-blue.jpg
Considerations for the final work
The image needed no cropping, but the original text was removed and the background blurred.
The already cropped face, with hands in a 'hopeless' pose, and dark eyes looking straight at the viewer, is arresting. The text placement continues the slightly disconcerting diagonal of the barbed wire.
This poster could become a banner on social media, a billboard, or highway sign. The intent is for Australians to think about the way our government, in our name, is mistreating asylum seekrers.