Project Unchecked

This was part of my final project for my Art of Photography class. The main concept behind this was about Nike and how it uses sweatshops in third world countries. In many instances, Nike abuses their rights in conducting business abroad; underpaying and allowing disorderly business practices such as child labor, over working laborers, etc. This is all too sad how a big company like Nike who is more than capable of actually paying their workers proper wages and decent incentives chooses not to. Although in some situations where Nike actually pays their workers proper salaries, it is still not enough to meet half of their needed living cost. A lot of times Nike meets minimum wage standards but I think it is in their power to meet what is ethically and morally correct to provide better for their overworked workers.

Needless to say, I am not entirely against Nike. I just believe that a company who can sell shoes for $150 in average on a shoe that took less than a dime to produce can treat their workers better than they are treating them now. I don't think a lot of us realize the impact of buying some "dope ass kicks" has in the bigger picture. Yet again as I walk down Post Street in San Francisco I see hundreds of people flocking the Nike Town store like vultures scurrying to a newly found carcass.The Image of the "Bloody Nikes" composes of 6 layers put together in Photoshop. As it was displayed in class I purposely tried to insinuate the two images by unifying them with the color red. The top image was supposedly dripping blood to fill the Nike sign on the lower image. During my presentation I did not put up a statement simply to make the viewers think. The image at the bottom with the Nike Town on Post and Stockton in SF was barely photoshopped. It was a 6-frame multiple image shot w/ my 35mm camera. The only thing changed was the color in which I just brought out the existing red on the Nike Logo sign. [Click the images to enlarge]