an insight from Magnum Photos for the Orange Foundation: Alessandra Sanguinetti

In 2007, the Orange Foundation invited 7 photographers of Magnum Photos to show its actions in corporate philanthropy. Their work was presented in the exhibition A world to share in Paris at first, then went on tour in several European countries.
Some of them wanted to continue this work ...

Hearing impairment can shut people off, make them dependent on others and separate them from the rest of society. To improve the quality of life for the deaf and hearing impaired, staff and families must be trained in speech-learning methods.
In October 2008, Alessandra Sanguinetti* took part in two training sessions organized in Warsaw by the "Sounds of Dreams" national action programme for hearing impaired children, set up by TP Group Foundation, member of the Orange Foundation network of country foundations. Together with the trainees and families with young deaf children, she followed practical training exercices based on the verbo-tonal method that uses body movements as a mediator to teach speech. As she says: “My first time in Poland was for this assignment, which involved therapies for hearing impaired children. I wouldn’t trade this first experience for anything. I was told that deafness can cause total isolation – more so than blindness – so I tried to imagine being unable to hear things such as my mother’s voice, a lullaby, laughter, rainfall: the list is endless. But I couldn’t, because those sounds are part of me. That’s when I realised the importance of what was going on in those deceptively simple exercices. The therapists would repeat them again and again, insisting until the child showed recognition and made a connection. It was the difference between being part of the world and being alone…”.
This work of Alessandra Sanguinetti is present to the public from February 5th until March 15th 2009 at the Yours Gallery in Warsaw.



*She was born in New York, 1968, brought up in Argentina from 1970 until 2003, and is currently based in New York. Alessandra Sanguinetti is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fondation fellowship and a Hasselblad Foundation grant. Her book, “On the Sixth Day”, was published by Nazraeli Press in January 2006. She has photographed for The New York Times Magazine, LIFE, Newsweek, and New York Magazine.


find out more

• Orange Foundation
• a world to share (in French)
• Martine Franck in Moldova for the Orange Foundation
  
• Magnum Photos website
• Orange Foundation blog (in French)
  

a selection of Alessandra Sanguinetti photographies