Emergency Communities

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The 450 Photo Experience
07/12/07 Mark Weiner
For the past few months, Emergency Communities has been running a summer camp in one of the most desolate areas on the Gulf - the Diamond Trailer Park. It is home to 450 FEMA Trailers with little or no resources. Two months ago, some inspired photographers started a photo project to teach the kids photography. One of the kid's ended up being so good at it, he's won an award and his photos will hang at an NYC Gallery. Here's his story:

"When I first met Marquese James, he definetly made his presence be known and after a couple of games of” tug of war”, he realized that I was on his side and began warming up to me. But, like any 13 year old energetic kid, it was difficult to keep his attention and keep him sitting in his chair for the duration of the class, so much so that I assumed he wasn’t retaining any of the lessons. My opinion about Marquese soon changed though, when I began seeing his work, and started noticing that he was putting special care in choosing compositions and subject matter, he wasn’t blowing off my class or the assignments at all. Marquese pleasantly surprised with his work and made me realize that he had genuine interest, and that I had to be less rigid about my teaching style. And so it suddenly became OK to have a little bit of controlled chaos in the classroom, it kept things fresh.
I’m very proud to say that Marquese James has pleasantly surprised me again, last week I received an email from the Charity in Focus Photography contest and Marquese’s work has been selected to hang in a gallery in NYC for one of their shows."

Comments

Author: Jose 07/13/07
That is such a brilliant idea. I hope that medium catches on more in New Orleans and elsewhere, letting people document their own lives and giving them the resources to get their message out. Keep up the good work!!!

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