Photographs of the exhibition at DFID
INTRODUCTION
In 1988, John Pickford, co-founder and Leader of the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) at Loughborough University invited me for an interview for the post of Editorial Assistant. Drawing skills featured in the job description, so with a degree in Fine Art behind me and an interest in international development, I thought I might be in with a chance. I asked John if he would like me to bring along to the interview a portfolio of my artwork for inspection. To this he replied: “Just bring along any drawings you’ve done of people sitting on the toilet!”
I was somewhat taken aback by his response, and wondered whether this really was the job for me. But I was also curious. Needless to say, my portfolio was missing the vital collection of images that would sway the appointment in my favour. Not sure whether John was joking or not, I hurriedly produced a few sketches and set off to attend the interview.
I soon discovered what WEDC was about. It had an established reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for education, training and research concerned, principally, with improving access to water and sanitation for the poor in low- and middle-income countries. I was immediately struck by ‘the human touch’ which pervaded the ethos of WEDC and realized that this was intended to spill over into the publications which WEDC produced. Not only were technical illustrations used to convey information, line drawings were to be used to describe the context of a subject in an approachable way, and also to enliven the page.
With the advancement of printing and publishing technologies throughout the 1990s, I questioned whether black and white line drawings were still an effective means of visual communication. After all, the advent of desktop scanning and digital photography meant that photographs were now easy to drop into documents. There were (and still are), however, problems associated with using photographs. They are usually country or culture specific and do not withstand multiple-generation copying. Both factors are limiting for materials intended for wide distribution in developing countries. Furthermore, particular features of a subject can be emphasized and given focus using an illustration. My doubts over the continued relevance of line drawings were finally put to rest when I researched the issue during the course of studying for my postgraduate degree. Many accounts suggest that the pictorial style most easily understood by people who have had relatively little exposure to pictures are shaded line drawings.
In 2004, I was commissioned by the World Health Organization and UNICEF through their Joint Monitoring Programme to prepare a set of illustrations on a broad range of subjects relating to water supply and sanitation in developing countries. They were produced to feature in educational materials for staff as they train to conduct household surveys designed to report global estimates of access to water supply and sanitation. This project provided the opportunity for me to gather together the line illustrations I have produced over a number of years and to present them in a book and on a compact disk as a resource for others.
This exhibition Drawing Water carries the same title as the book. It presents a selection of images which illustrate the ways in which many people living in poor communities throughout the world manage to meet the most basic of human needs.
Rod Shaw
Water, Engineering and Development Centre
Loughborough University, 2005