Friday, November 03, 2006

OJOS nuevos: clase número cinco


We've now reached the half-way point of OJOS nuevos. With four weeks behind us, I thought it would be a good idea to spend class reviewing our progress. We started class with a photography slideshow, followed by a discussion focusing primarily on a photo by Roger LeMoyne of a pool of blood, a consequence of an Israeli / Palestinian conflict. I'm not sure what exposure our kids have to current events, especially of an international scope. The girls are not shy to ask about the photos we view though, and I feel that powerful images such as this one spark their interest in a unique and influential way. It's not the same if I were to tell them about conflicts in Israel , Palestine, or anywhere else; the girls wanted to know whose blood it was, and why it had been spilled.


Each day the girls have their cameras they become a little more creative. I felt at first that we were at a disadvantage for not being able to leave the hogar with our cameras. I would still like to leave before the end of class, the main problem being memory cards and batteries, because I think it would give them a much wider view of what they can do with their cameras. But even within our limitations, the girls find ways to create interesting and unusual images. Here is an example of one of the portraits taken over the last two weeks. The girls are learning to explore a little more, to find something new within the same familiar walls of their hogar.

For the next class, each student is to choose one word and capture it in some manner in at least 20 photos. So far I've heard "solitude," "anger," and "affection" being thrown around, but stay tuned for next week's class for final results.

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The first class of OJOS nuevos will meet for another 3 weeks. While we are excited to have started class, our resources are incredibly limited. We cannot keep the program running without the help of our supporters. If you would like to see OJOS nuevos succeed, please contribute in any way possible. Thank you to everyone who has donated and helped us come this far.

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