Times of India Farmers Suicides

Saw this in my "marketing sites" feed. It's a campaign by newspaper The Times of India to highlight and help the forgotten plight of some of India's poorest farm labourers - "Plagued by drought, debts and crop failure, nearly 300,000 Indian farmers committed suicide last year."

Times of India Farmers Suicides | The Inspiration Room: Times of India Farmers Suicides
Posted on June 25, 2013 by Duncan
The Times of India Farmers Suicides campaign, raising support for those affected by a plague of suicide in 2009, has won a set of Gold Lions (Press, Design & Outdoor) at Cannes International Festival of Creativity. Plagued by drought, debts and crop failure, nearly 300,000 Indian farmers committed suicide last year. While the issue came under the government scanner and measures were taken to try and stop more suicides, the large, illiterate families of those already dead were left to fend for themselves. The brief was two-pronged: firstly to sensitise people to this harsh reality, and secondly, to raise funds for these impoverished families. Taproot India created the portraits using the very same object that had been the farmers’ undoing: dry, burnt hay. Using actual photographs of 12 deceased farmers as a reference, facial features and expressions were captured and recreated using hundreds of dried hay pieces. This symbol of ruined crops became the canvas on which their faces came alive. The portraits were displayed at exhibitions and auctioned to the highest bidders. The money raised was distributed amongst their families.

Fantastic concept for a campaign and a powerful issue for the paper to get behind.