       Amy Bardi’s touching and unique photograph taken in Zambia, Africa evaluates how women in less fortunate countries are able to pursue tasks to strengthen their self-images through actions of women empowerment, while proving the stereotype of being unskilled women wrong. Bardi’s photograph immediately reflects encouragement and affection from each of the women supporting each other to feel like they have each sufficiently contributed to their community. The bright colors incorporated in this image represent the compassion and hopeful future of these women to become a benefitting figure others believed they could never be, entrepreneurs. Although the photographer does not provide us with the unpleasant, impecunious environment going on around these women’s lives in Africa, she does provide us with a scene of dedicated and hardworking women willing to venture off from their normal day to day tasks in order to break down the walls of stereotypes and prove their skill level. Bardi’s argument emphasizes empowerment through combination of bright colors, various actions, and feminism to show viewers that uneducated, less fortunate women are capable of pursing any task they set their minds to. This image allows people to see how women in less fortunate countries are able to take a stand for who they are, and become the benefiting impact they want to reflect on in the world. 

Throughout the country of Zambia, bright colors are incorporated into communities to represent hopeful futures and unity, which is exactly shown in Amy Bardi’s visual text, Our Impact. The variations of the vivid green, red, and distinct yellow allow viewers to foreshadow how the women wanted to give off feelings of being protected and cherished, even with all the harsh obstacles going on around them. One can clearly visualize that a single color does not overtake the picture or present a clear focal point, resulting in the integration and harmony of this community of women; the multitude of shades and tints shows the concept that everyone here is treated equally, willing to work together in order to grasp self-awareness of women empowerment. Although neutral colors are also contained in this photograph, it brings up a significant contrast for how everyone has to work their way up in life; everything is not handed to everyone on a silver plate, depicting how these women want to make an impact in society to gratify their hard work and determination as business women. 

When Bardi stood in this room of Zambian women, took out her camera, and clicked the button to take this intriguing photograph, she had a higher intention than most would consider, the act of entrepreneurship. The woman closest to us in this photo carries out this action; she has been taught how to cut and sew fabric to make items such as headbands and bracelets in order to prove to her surroundings that she is capable of learning new tasks, just like everyone else blessed with more plentiful resources and education. Even though the background of this image slowly begins to become blurry, one can clearly see that the other ladies are still working and on task, which is what Bardi wanted to prove from this piece. Faces of perseverance and devotion are shown on all four women surrounding this scene depicting that they are fully committed to making a mark in society, and giving others the gift that they are experiencing. “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”, represents the theme of togetherness and community throughout Bardi’s Clothed In Hope business in hopes of empowering vulnerable women through tasks as one sees in this image. These words explore to readers that the women of Zambia believe that people seem to overlook this concept on a daily basis, giving back; since these women have already been taught how to make various items to sell to the United States, they now want to share their skill set with the rest of their community in hopes of unity and success which is what life is all about. 

Bardi’s intention to exhibit that anyone in this world can be successful, no matter what race, sex, age, or education, is evident in her photograph Our Impact. Feminism especially is displayed here because men in Zambia and other countries believe that women exist to carry on a few basic tasks: have children, cook, and clean, which is completely false. This photograph allows readers to draw up assumptions that these hardworking women can in fact do any task they set their minds to, proving the stereotype wrong. Even though not all people are able to go to less fortunate countries and see the bad conditions these women are circled around, people can see here that those obstacles are not a problem for these women and will not get in the way of them proving what they stand for; hope, dedication, and unity. The designs on the multitude of fabrics evident in the image symbolize this awe of togetherness and unity because the variation and texture of single lines visualize how everyone is different and dependent, yet they all come together to represent a community of trust and encirclement of relationships for life. 

When Amy Bardi started her business of Clothed In Hope, she began it on the basis of empowering women in Zambia through education and economic opportunity, which she shows vividly through the various amounts of photographs taken on her journey. Our Impact, in particular, plays a significant role in her theme of empowerment because it withholds interpretations and assumptions that readers can pick out to symbolize how hard these women work to distinguish themselves as not only knowledgeable women in society, but also as entrepreneurs. This company has made such a great impact across the nation to the United States that it now sells wholesale, has pop up shops, and has thousands of dollars being donated to women in Zambia monthly, all dedicated to helping empowering women and showing their self-worth, which is breathtaking. Bardi’s images from Africa serve to provide her image of life for these women through determination, skill, relationships, and most importantly trust within a society. 
