www.allysonwiley.com/article.html -
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Published on: 3/21/2007
Last Visited: 3/21/2007
But despite their struggles, they have an irrepressible innocence and playful spirit as you can see from this gallery of award-winning photographs by Allyson Wiley '02.
Inspired by the Lasallian tradition of service to care deeply about the world around her, Wiley traveled to Zimbabwe last year to photograph children at an orphanage outside of the capital city of Harare.
"I was determined to find a way to give these children a voice, especially when they are being impacted so heavily," Wiley says.
Accomplishing that was no easy feat since Zimbabwe prohibits photojournalists from visiting the country for fear of provoking criticism of the government, according to Wiley.She spent nearly two months in the country traveling as a "tourist on safari" to avoid having her photography equipment confiscated.
Through her intimate portraits, Wiley says she hopes to make viewers feel connected to the children."I wanted to provide visual imagery that made us look at the orphans in a way that we would look at our own children," she says.
The photos won first prize at Book Passage's 2004 Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, and landed Wiley a job as a photographer at Sunset magazine.She is also pursuing a master of science degree from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, where she is researching how visual imagery impacts Third World countries.
Wiley graduated from Saint Mary's College in 2002, majoring in Anthropology and Sociology with particular emphasis on visual culture.
"Through my education at Saint Mary's I was able to evoke an artistic passion inside myself that helps me speak to the world around me and, more importantly, to speak for those who don't always have a voice," says Wiley. Her exhibit, titled "AIDS Orphans of Zimbabwe," was displayed at the College Library in the spring of 2005.
Reflecting on her career choice, Wiley says:"To me there is no more powerful or influential tool than photographic images, says Wiley.
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