Organization for Youth Empowerment

 

Photography is a creative form of image making accessible to children of all ages. During the first six months of OYE, as a pilot program, children aged five to sixteen were taught how to use simple camera equipment to creatively portray and reflect about their lives and community. Starting with only five point and shoot cameras, the photography students have taken beautiful and perceptive black and white portraits of their friends, family and neighbors. With these, the children have built the stories behind their photographs, which help them understand the world they live in, and integrate them into a larger community. Photographs taken by the children in OYE’s workshops were compiled into a national and international travelling photography exhibit titled “Fotos de mi Pueblo.”

In collaboration with a local video production company, the Cruz Bros. Inc., OYE teaches digital documentary video workshops to youth in the centers as well as with the OYE Youth Group. Youth are taught the basics of planning, writing, and directing for video, as well as general use of the camera equipment. They then go out on their own to make short films about their lives, either using real documentary scenes or re-enactment style footage of their reality and life conditions. The results are powerful and explicit insights into their lives, and give these young people a tool to express themselves and have their voices heard. The short films are screened at the local House of Art and Culture.

For more information CLICK HERE