honorable mention
Chris Overton united kingdomPhoto © Chris Overton
title
Hustle for Hunger
With this picture I wanted to capture what life is like, day to day for a child in a poor village in this part of the world. Children as young as 5 are sent to work by their parents, begging or selling these bracelets which you can see in the photo. "10 thousand for one, 10 thousand for me" was something we didn't get used to hearing.
Myself and my wife bought a lot of these bracelets for friends and family. I wanted a photo to show where they had come from, so there is a deeper meaning than just a small present from the other side of the world.
Whilst eating street food in a shack, we were approached by a young boy and his two younger sisters, wanting us to buy bracelets.
I told the young boy I needed a model to take a picture and I asked him if I could be his customer and pay him for his time. I saw light in his eyes (easy money) as we prepared the position of the photo whilst he waited very still and patiently, being laughed at by his sisters.
A lot of questions I had at the time are still very much with me today:
Is it wrong for children to help their parents bring in money in this part of the world?
In buying these bracelets and asking this boy to model, was I contributing to making this problem worse or better?
Have I given hope to this young boy by showing him a new way to earn money?
Should a child even be thinking about money at this age?
I took just one photo. This is it.
Chris founded the UK’s leading production company in its field at the age of 20. SLICK have been producing a wide range of work including showreels, music videos, pilots, short films and documentaries ever since.
Chris’s directorial debut THE SILENT CHILD premiered at Rhode Island International Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short film and also won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short 2018.
back to gallery
entry description
This photo was taken in the mountains of Vietnam in a small village in Sapa, called Lào Cai.With this picture I wanted to capture what life is like, day to day for a child in a poor village in this part of the world. Children as young as 5 are sent to work by their parents, begging or selling these bracelets which you can see in the photo. "10 thousand for one, 10 thousand for me" was something we didn't get used to hearing.
Myself and my wife bought a lot of these bracelets for friends and family. I wanted a photo to show where they had come from, so there is a deeper meaning than just a small present from the other side of the world.
Whilst eating street food in a shack, we were approached by a young boy and his two younger sisters, wanting us to buy bracelets.
I told the young boy I needed a model to take a picture and I asked him if I could be his customer and pay him for his time. I saw light in his eyes (easy money) as we prepared the position of the photo whilst he waited very still and patiently, being laughed at by his sisters.
A lot of questions I had at the time are still very much with me today:
Is it wrong for children to help their parents bring in money in this part of the world?
In buying these bracelets and asking this boy to model, was I contributing to making this problem worse or better?
Have I given hope to this young boy by showing him a new way to earn money?
Should a child even be thinking about money at this age?
I took just one photo. This is it.
about the photographer
Born In Staffordshire, Chris is an Academy Award® winning director. He began his career as an actor and worked on various television and film projects with directors including Joel Schumaccher and was part of the main cast of BAFTA award winning film, Pride directed by Matthew Warchus.Chris founded the UK’s leading production company in its field at the age of 20. SLICK have been producing a wide range of work including showreels, music videos, pilots, short films and documentaries ever since.
Chris’s directorial debut THE SILENT CHILD premiered at Rhode Island International Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short film and also won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short 2018.
back to gallery