CLAYTON ARTS ACADEMY PLUS II

PROJECT PLAN PROPOSAL

Faces of Immigration
Respectfully Submitted By: Janine Bandayrel
Date: February 15, 2016
GOALS & OBJECTIVES:
Shed light on the people who have immigrated here from their native
country and share their struggles/hardships or successes.
Use photography to show that the faces of immigration are regular
people all around us in our community.
Use the facts and information from the stories of real immigrants to
spread the word that immigration is a real factor in the growing United
States.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The project I am planning on doing for my Academy Plus II is a photography
campaign that sheds light on immigration/immigrants that have moved from their
home country to the United States in hopes of a better life for them or for their
family. The photos I want to take are dramatic, (possibly black and white) portraits
to accentuate their features. (I.e. their wrinkles or scars, or their tired eyes) As
someone who comes from a family of immigrants, it is both intriguing and
enlightening to know that they had moved to America in hopes for the future
generation. What I am planning on doing is interviewing my father, grandfather,
and grandmother, (who come from Nicaragua and the Philippines) and asking them
their story. I want to know all of the hardships they faced when their families came
to this decision. I want to ask how they personally felt when their entire life was
shifted all the way across the world. I want to know if they were discriminated
against when they arrived in the United States because they didnt know any
english. I want to know how they adjusted to their new life and how it compared to
their present day life. And what I want to do with this information is share it to an
audience who is willing to listen. I want the audience to be aware that because
they are under the title of immigrants, doesn't really mean that they are alien to
us. They are humans just like everyone around us and they came here to live a life
of happiness, the same as anyone really. What I really want as a result of this
presentation is that the discrimination of immigrants stops. In addition to
interviewing my family, I want to also do some research on other stories from
people across the world, including and comparing/contrasting those stories with
the stories I gather from my family. Including this in my project expands my
horizons with the topic of immigration, showing that it affects a majority of the
people in the United States of America.
PERSONNEL/MATERIAL RESOURCES NEEDED:
Erick Bandayrel (Father)
Manuela Gaitan (Grandmother)
Rodolph Julian (Grandfather)

 DSLR Camera; to take photographs

Jasmine Bandayrel (Sister, who is also a photographer who can help me
if I need it)
Mrs. Abbott (Photography teacher if I needed further help)
Studio/Backdrop to take portraits in front of
Studio lights (I can get some from Jasmine who works for a
photography company)
PROCEDURE AND TIMELINE:
March 2nd: Finalize interview questions.
March 5th: Meet with first interviewee, (Done!)
March 7th: Update Senior Blog!
March 9th: Message 2nd interviewee. (Interview moved to April 9th)
March 14th: Update Senior Blog!
March 15th: Website check in Plus II.
March 17th: Research Immigration stories to include in Presentation.
March 19th: Meet with 3rd interviewee. (Interview completed, Photography
campaign moved to April 10th.
March 21st: Update Senior Blog!
March 23rd: Compile everything I have together, and see what Im missing as well
as how Ill get it done.
March 25th: Final Proposal due!
March 28th: Update Senior Blog!
April 4th: Update Senior Blog!
April 4th-April 7th: Edit the photos I have.
April 11th: Update Senior Blog!
April 18th: Update Senior Blog!
April 13th-22nd: Draft general speech topic.
April 25th: Update Senior Blog!
April 30th: Everything should be finished!
May 2nd: Finalize Blog!
May 9th-May 20th: Work on final essay.
May 25th: Presentation!
SEE IT/BELIEVE IT: Something that needs to change in our community is
the discrimination of immigrants in the United States. The way I want to draw
attention to it/incorporate art is by doing a photography campaign that captures
the features of the human race. I want to show these portraits to those who believe
that immigrants are ruining the United States to prove that they are working hard
to make ends meet. Immigration is important because of the growing diversity in
the United States. To me, this country isnt of just one race, but a collective
group of races that have come to live a life of happiness and success. Theyre
shouldnt be one dominant race over the other, and the discrimination of foreigners
should cease to exist all together.
RESEARCH IT: What Im going to do is research the increase of
immigration to the United States. Im going to research the causes as to why the

immigrants come to the United States and what they expect to seek or get out of
by coming to this country. To be more specific I want to ask my family members:
Was it hard to adapt to a new environment?
What was your familys reasoning to move away from your native
country?
Do you still have family in your home country that you havent been
able to see since you moved?
Did you have to learn a new language? If so, was it hard?
Were there people who treated you differently?
What was your familys plan to support each other as they started a
new life?
There are probably a bunch of more questions to ask, but these are some of the
more vague ones that arent really that in depth yet, (I have yet to think of those). I
know that there are people who want to allow illegal immigrants to stay, (should be
allowed to stay legally, 72%) and I know that there are people who think that think
illegal immigrants should be deported, (27%). But there are also people who are
undecided. What I want to do is be more familiar with both sides of the argument,
analyzing the pros and cons.
BUILD IT/DO IT: My plan is to first get consent from my family members to
interview them and make sure they are comfortable with the entire situation. Then
after they (hopefully) say yes I want to actually set up an interview with a planned
date. The interview itself is composed of some example questions above and will
probably last around a half an hour to an hour at most. I want to explain to them
that this project is on both discrimination against immigrants as well as opening up
the eyes of those who are uneducated as to why immigrants had moved to the
United States in the first place. I want to explain in my senior project presentation
that immigration is a key factor in the growing diversity in America and I want
them to understand that immigrants shouldnt be treated lesser than any other
average american.
REFLECT ON IT: All through the project, Ill reflect on how Ive grown as a
person and how my views towards immigration has changed due to my project. I
want to know how my people skills have also changed since the beginning of the
project because Im naturally extremely shy and even though Ill be interviewing
mostly family members, it still might be a touchy subject for them and I might get a
bit flustered when Im interviewing them. Of course Ill make adjustments if
something goes wrong or doesnt work out.
PRESENT IT: For my 3-5 minute example of my senior project Ill show the
portraits of my family members to represent my time in the academy as a four year
photography student. Ill also compose a speech that explains how immigration has
impacted their lives and the lives of others. Ill share their stories and the stories of
others so the word can be spread.To answer the question, How has your
experience as an Arts Academy student shaped your societal mission? I would say
that the Arts Academy has helped me step out of my bubble and comfort zone in
order to be successful. Through photography, it has helped me express true
emotions through a simple captured moment in time when words seem

superfluous. My senior project itself has helped me realize societal problems and
the Arts Academy has helped me find a voice to address these problems.
PROJECTED COSTS/EXPENSES & FUNDRAISING: The only thing that would
cost money is if I decided to blow up the pictures and print them at CVS but that
would cost me no more than $15 dollars, (which may vary depending on the size as
well as how many prints I actually want).
DESIRED OUTCOME: What I want the audience, who will most likely be
composed of students from CVCHS (mainly Arts Academy), to do as a result of
being exposed to my project, is not necessarily address the topic of immigration,
but be inspired to address a different societal topic and expose it to others to it. I
want them to be able to find an issue that really drives them towards change and
hopefully be inspired to go after that change.
HOW WILL YOU GAUGE YOUR PROJECTS IMPACT? Although this part isnt
clearly thought out yet, I want to directly ask the audience what they feel after my
presentation. I want to know if I had any impact on any of them. I also want to ask
at the end of my presentation if they feel compelled to go out and expose a social
issue that they are passionate about. The only venue I have so far is my actual
presentation, but if I do get another sort of venue Ill ask the same questions: Have
your views changed? Do you feel compelled to do something about a social issue
that you are passionate about? Basically I want them to know that even though
they are one person, even being remotely interested in something can spark a
change.
POTENTIAL COMPLICATIONS/DELAYS & IDEAS TO OVERCOME THEM:
Some potential complications that might occur is the interview not happening at all
due to personal issues with sharing their story or not being able to meet up do to
other engagements. Another thing that could happen is my project completely
falling through and I would have to think up a new project. f this entire project falls
through, my secondary idea would be photographing teens and youth, then telling
them they're beautiful and capturing a true expression of happiness. I would do
this second project because I want to shed light on the fact that some teenagers
have self-esteem issues or other more personal problems and that even a simple
compliment like that can help their situation.
IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT TO YOU AS AN ARTIST: A pictures worth a
thousand words, and with each photo shows a person's story, their past and
present, even their future. As a photographer I have a natural need to capture
moments in time that I deem important, and as both an artist and a student, this
project could be one of the most important things I do in my entire life because it
truly puts to the test my opinions on why photography is an essential form of art.
IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT TO YOU AS A SOCIAL ACTIVIST: This project is
important to me as a social activist because it lets me lend my voice to the
immigrants who want Americans to understand their story as well as accept them
to who they are. I cant even imagine what its like to have your whole life moved

across the entire world to a completely different country where you many not know
anyone, yet that circumstance is a large part of many peoples lives.