"Life on the Edge" is a multimedia project about families living on the edge of railway lines in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

I have travelled to Bangladesh previously in 2011 where I spent 6 weeks in the country and really fell in love with the country, I completed two multimedia projects, you can see one of them below.

Bangladesh is a country in South East asia, bordering countries like India and Burma. It has a population of more than 160 million people, the 8^th most populated country and is one of the worlds most densely populated country.



The country is known as a Next Eleven economy, they are making massive strides in human development, including gender equity, education, women empowerment, reducing population growth, health and renewable energy. With these improvements, the country still faces major political and social challenges including political corruption, widespread poverty, overpopulation, political instability and is vulnerable to global climate change.







My story is based in Dhaka, the capital of the country. I will be there for 3 weeks in January and It will focus on a family within the slum areas of the city who live close to the railway lines however it isn’t so much concentrating on the negatives but showcasing although these people have minimal and live in terrible conditions they tend endure their situation and persevere in the face of adversity.

The reasons i am doing this project are a bit of a self discovery journey but i would like to bring to attention in the western world some sort of social change, I believe people know how people in third world countries live via documentaries, what they see on the news and other means of media, but when it comes from someone they know personally or through other people i think that is when it makes a difference, it comes from the eyes of a family member, friend, partner that is when it can affect a greater number of people.



People should support this project because it will make a difference and bring to attention the lives these people live and although i will be helping one family, it could bring some wider spread change to the local area.

The $5000 will be split into different parts of the project:

$2000 - Will be used for new equipment before travelling
$500 - Will be used for accommodation while i stay in Dhaka
$200 - Travel costs through Dhaka
$1000 approx - Will be used to help the family i work closely with out, if thats in the form of sending their children to school, buying them some sort of equipment for their livelihood or buying them an animal, this wont be known till i travel and have a better understanding of what is needed
$500 approx - Paying my fixer/translator to travel with me
$800-$1000 - Towards a solo exhibition when i return from my trip

I don't see too many risks for this project however there is a little bit of political unrest in the country with strikes happening through October and November, there are elections in January which could make travelling through the capital a little more difficult.