New Photos-

Photo Essays, Family and friends....

All the students have continued to shoot this week every day. Tuesday Vittorio D' Onofri came and gave a presentation of his work. (http://www.victoriodonofri.com/) It was neat for the students to see examples of his photo essays and it gave them some guidance for their own topics of interest. They are coming along-Isui is doing her project on women and domestic violence. Giohovanny is focusing on the old crumbling buildings of Oaxaca. Antonio-poverty in Oaxaca. We are going to present all of their photos in a slideshow format at the gallery show in December! Should be great.

Today the students are working individually around the city and then we are all meeting later to upload photos, disuss and plan the gallery exhibition. We are going to have a potluck, live music, prints and photo greeting cards for sale and a table with information about the Oaxaca Learning Center-which many of the Ojos de Oaxaca students are a part of. Hopefully we gain a lot of support for the Oaxaca Learning Center and the future of the Ojos de Oaxaca photography project. Today the group will collaborate to put together a Power Point Presentation for the art opening.

Saturday we are all going to a small weaving village, Teotitlan de Valle, outside of Oaxaca City. The students are going to gain more practice on taking photos with one subject. We are all going to shoot the process of creating tapetes (hand-woven rugs). It is a sweet charming village where women carry baskets full of produce on their heads and armfuls of roses in their arms. The streets are all cobblestone-a place with great lighting and perfect photography opportunities.

I recently contacted a local family there-who I met on my last visit. Saturday morning they are welcoming all of the Ojos de Oaxaca students into their home for a full papparazzi event-they will spin the wool, dye the fabric with various natural dyes, and weave while all the students will have a chance to document this great tradition. They use cochineal (the insect found on local cactus-that turns red when you smash it), indigo and alfalfa to dye the rugs.

Yesterday we made photography collages. The students were so creative and mixed up all their images in surreal and interesting ways.

Family and Friends-Portraits

We have been working on taking pictures of family and friends. The students will be working on these portraits for the next two weeks-heres a peek of some of their shots.

Yesterday Marcela Taboada came and it was really great to have her come. The students asked her a lot of questions and were really absorbed with her work. Each student talked with her about their creative inspiration and why they want to learn photography. It made me wish that this project didn't have to end in a few weeks. They are all very creative young folks who are so eager to learn new things and put them into practice. I think that seeing Marcela-a professional Mexican photographer-made them eager to get out there and shoot again. Immediately after Luis Angel asked me if we could shoot tomorrow afternoon.

Self-portraits

Yesterday we went to the Benito Juarez park again and practiced taking self-portraits. Before shooting, we looked at a lot of examples of how to show yourself without necessarily showing your face. The students experimented a lot and it was fun seeing them rolling around in the grass and setting their self-timers and running. They are also working on creative writing to be included with their self-portraits.

Once the light goes down every day, we have been going to the Comision Estatal de la Juventud to use their computers-upload photos onto flickr.com, play with photoshop and discuss everyones photographs so far. It's neat to see them get excited about what they produce and witness their pride in their work. They are all very supportive and respectful of eachother.

Last night everyone had the opportunity to take the cameras home to photograph family and friends. This will give them the chance to create more personal photos. We reviewed techniques for taking portraits and I am excited to see what they come up with.

Today Marcela Taboada is coming to give a presentation at Cejuve. (www.marcelataboada.com) I think it will be great inspiration for these teens to meet a successful photographer who lives right here in Oaxaca City. I am sure it will be great motivation. More soon.....

Reflections and Shadows

Yesterday we all went to the Benito Juarez Park to focus on pictures with light, shadow and reflection. It was a great time to photograph because the grey clouds were just clearing and the lighting was really dramatic. The students became a lot more aware of light-one student was so excited about using lighting-he said he wants the SUN to be the subject of his photo essay!

I feel like the students are starting to use line, shape and pattern more in their photos. We have been looking at a lot of examples of great photographs and discussing what makes these photos interesting. Yesterday we looked at the work of Graciela Iturbide. All of the students really liked her style and the strange dream-like quality of her photos.

Today we are practicing self-portraits with various backgrounds, facial expressions etc. We will also be starting our photo essays. The students ideas are great-Antonio is thinking about doing tattoos and Mayra has talked about doing LOVE as her subject. They will be working on these for the next few weeks-so it will be fun to see how their stories develop.

Very good news-we have an art show at LA CASA DE CULTURA OAXAQUENA for the month of December! The students photos will go up on December 9th and we will have an art opening that night at 8pm. If you are in Oaxaca City, be sure to come by and check out this great photography by local youth!

Where:

LA CASA DE LA CULTURA OAXAQUENA

Galeria Alfonso Rivas

EX CONVENTO DE LOS SIETE PRINCIPES

Gonzalez Ortega 403, Centro Historico,

Oaxaca, OAX. Tel: 51-62483

ccocomunica@hotmail.com

When:

Tuesday December 9, 2008 at 6:00pm

Martes 9 de Deciembre de 2008-18:00 HRS

Hope to see you there! :)

Photo Slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32283992@N07/show/

Meet the Photographers!

There are currently 14 students in the Ojos de Oaxaca program. Some cannot come every day due to work, school or homework. Pictured above is some of the members of the group involved in this project. Nallely is in the sombrero-she is a cheerful young gal who takes bright, playful pictures. Antonio is in the black and white pic above-he is very patient and takes his time with each image.

Today we all went to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Alcala Street in Oaxaca. They have a show up of historical photographs of Oaxaca-with pictures of old beautiful sepia tone prints. It was great seeing the students view images of Oaxaca from 1896 and pointing to street corners they recognized. It was fun seeing the students with their nose to the glass of an image, simply staring. I think seeing a lot of examples is good for them in terms of seeing what works and what doesn't in photography.

Afterward we went to a park behind the Santo Domingo area to photograph eachother and let loose. Then we all sat in a circle under a street light and discussed what we have learned so far through experimenting with our cameras.

Worldwide Youth Photography Projects

1.) Aja Project: Disparando Cameras Para La Paz: Bogota, Columbia
www.ajaproject.org/columbiaproject.html

2.) Aja Project: Journey: San Diego, CA
www.ajaproject.org/sandiegoproject.html

3.) Aja Project: Record of Truth: Thai/Burma Border
www.ajaproject.org/karenproject.html

4.) Bridges to Understanding, Seattle, WA
http://www.bridgesweb.org/

5.) Chishawasha: Lusaka, Zambia
www.tribeofman.com/zambia

6.) Charleston Kids with Cameras, Charleston, South Carolina
http://www.charlestonkidswithcameras.org/

7.) Clicking Hearts: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
http://www.clickinghearts.org/

8.) My World, My View: Pokhara, Nepal
http://www.asha-nepal.org/

9.) Ncoppa e Quartieri (On Top of the Quarters): Naples, Italy
http://www.largobaracche.it/

10.) NicaPhoto: Nagarote, Nicaragua
http://www.nicaphoto.com/

11.) Photovoice: London, UK
http://www.photovoice.org/

12.) Shooting Jozi: Johannesburg, South Africa
http://www.shootingjozi.net/

13.) Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Photo Project: Rwanda, Africa
http://www.rwandaproject.org/

14.) Voices: Tucson, Arizona
http://www.voicesinc.org/

15.) Eyes Wide OPen Wordwide: Springfield, Ohio
http://www.eyeswideopenworldwide.org/

16.) Fair Mail: Huanchaco and Trujillo, Peru
http://www.fairmail.info/

17.) Fotokids: Guatemala City, Guatemala
http://www.fotokids.org/

18.) Fundacion Ph 15: Buenos Aires, Argentina
http://www.ph15.org.ar/

19.) Katrina: Images from FEMAS Airport Village: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
www.kids-with-cameras.org/news

20.) Kids Camera Project: New Orleans, Louisiana
http://www.kidcameraproject.org/

21.) Kiosk Ngo: Bujanovac, Serbia
http://www.kioskngo.org/

22.) The In-Sight Photography Project: Brattleboro, Vermont
http://www.insight-photography.org/

23.) Venice Arts: Venice, California
http://www.venice-arts.org/

24.) Focus on Youth: Portland, Oregon
http://www.focusonyouth.org/

25.) Exposures: Cross Cultural Youth Arts Program: Vermont
http://www.exposuresprogram.org/

26.) The World Through my Eyes: Mozambique
http://www.theworldthroughmyeyes.org/

Market Madness-Portraits of people

Today was a really fun day-we all went to two local markets-the Benito Juarez market and the Abastos market. You can pretty much find anything in these places-baskets, roses, live chickens, fresh tamales and more. It is a visual feast and completly over-stimulating. A perfect place to practice shooting...

The students are more and more comfortable together. Today there was a lot of laughing, smiling and joking. They are getting more and more confident when asking people for a photograph. It is great to see them experimenting-getting down on their knees, trying different angles and seeing what works. They are starting to be more aware that everything inside the frame counts. I can see that they are paying more attention to the background and details in their images. I am noticing that they are using pattern, line and color to create more interesting images. Many of them have a natural eye for color and framing. I am feeling very proud of these young folks.

I am very impressed and can't wait to see what the future holds for these budding artists.

All photos were taken by Ojos de Oaxaca Students.

¨The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.¨

-Margaret Bourke-White

Museum Day

Yesterday was the second day of class. These young folks are really bright and fun. Yesterday we all went to the Alvarez Bravo museum to view the current show of Pedro Meyer.

(http://www.cfmab.blogspot.com/)

It was great-all the students talked about composition, meaning, emotion, line, light etc. They were all very perceptive and I am impressed with them already.

After the museum, we practiced shooting again to get comfortable with the cameras and each other. Already I am noticing that they each have their own style. Nallely shoots bright and playful pictures (see shoes). Betina loves faces and portraits of people. She shot a few of children that are so great. Antonio is pensive and quiet. He takes his time with every shot and his pictures capture calm peaceful moments. (see pigeon)

Today we are all going to two local markets that are CRAZY with pigs heads, hot peppers and red high heels all side-by-side. We will be practicing shooting faces and portraits amidst the madness. Should be a visual feast! More soon...

First day of class

Today was the first day of class. Eleven students showed up at the Oaxaca Learning Center eager to learn and practice photography. After a few minutes of discussion and logistics, we set out to take pictures right away. At first the students were shy with each other and didn't talk much. Many of these teenagers have never met before. They hesitated to take pictures and looked a little lost. However, after 30 minutes of photographing each other and random things, they became more comfortable and talkative.

We spent two and a half hours wandering around Oaxaca City taking photographs. Today was very unstructured-the time was for students to become comfortable with their cameras. It allowed them to be more confident in asking people for a shot. It was fun sitting back and observing these eleven young people go at it. Each personality differs and already I am so impressed by their sense of composition. Some are very shy and don't want to ask to take people's pictures. Others are very direct and walk right up to complete strangers requesting a photograph.

It seems we are going to need to meet downtown everyday in order to catch the light. By the time we ended up downtown, we were losing the sun. I suppose we are learning how to make this successful as we go.

This energetic group is going to be so much fun. They each have their own personality and special qualities about them. I am excited about what this month will hold. Tomorrow we are going to the Alvarez Bravo Photography Center. There is a black and white show there right now and it will be a great spot to discuss the elements of photography.