PhotoTeach: Day 1.

Today was the first day of PhotoTeach, with Miriam--something that I have been looking forward to for some time now. I woke up early and met Miriam at the Bush Canteen at 8:00am this morning, to buy notebooks for our students. After buying them, we took a tro-tro to a slum in Accra, called Nima. The slum is majorly composed of a large Christian and Muslim population.

As we arrived, the children were chanting "The Lord's Prayer/Our Father", over and over, as Wednesday mornings are a time for worship. We were greeted with many handshakes, hugs, and songs (after praying, the children welcomed us with one of Ghana's most popular songs that goes something like this: "Je-ho-vah, you are the most high, Je-ho-vah, you are the most high God...it is repeated over and over). After singing songs and loading film and batteries into four Kodak cameras, Kofi Anane, the school's headmaster, led Miriam and me into a small classroom. In the classroom, were the 8 students that he had handpicked for our 10-week photography (PhotoTeach) class.

The classroom walls were constructed of wooden beams, and sunshine leaked in through its cracks. Mix-match colored chairs dotted the room. Miriam and I moved the wooden tables together, surrounded by chairs to form a circle...it already felt like home.

We started the class by introducing ourselves and by playing the "Name Game" as a quick ice breaker (Carly is pretty difficult for Ghanaians to pronounce, so they call me "C"). After butchering several African/French/Twi names, the ice was clearly "broken", and their at-first shy demeanors quickly grew contagious with excitement.

Miriam introduced another fun icebreaker, as she asked the class to pair off. In each pair, there was a "photographer" and a "camera". The "photographer" moved the "camera" around the room (while the person who was the camera kept his/her eyes closed), then stopped at a place to take a picture, tapping the "camera's" shoulder to quickly open and then close his or her eyes (like the shutter of a camera). The image left in the "camera's" head was (essentially) the photograph. It was a fun game, and the "photographers" got a kick out of directing and making the "cameras" bend down low (eyes shut), to snap shots from a different angle.

After the icebreakers, Miriam and I posed the question "What is Photography?" We got fragmented and mixed answers, thus shifted the discussion by using guiding questions. Only 2 out of the 8 children had EVER taken a photo before, and only 3 out of the 8 own photos in their homes. We flipped through tagged pages of National Geographic, asking the students to describe what they saw in each photo. We discussed light, colors, angles, subject placement, time of day, etc. The students were all extremely attentive and eager to learn.

We moved on to talking about the basic parts of a camera (wrist strap, flash, battery compartment, film compartment, viewfinder, counter, etc.). We also gave each of the students his or her own journal and pencil, encouraging them to use the journals to write down questions they might have throughout the week, ideas, and observations, as well as notes about the photos they take. Each student will use the notebook this week to write down "3 things that are important to them".

Miriam and I will be teaching the class of 8 students (every student is about 10-12 years old) for 10 weeks. We bought 4 cameras, so the students will switch off taking turns every other week. The 4 students given the cameras this week signed printed agreement forms, stating that he or she was solely responsible for handling the camera and that he or she would return the camera next week.

The students could not be more excited. Their first assignment is to "Capture your life in 18 frames." Miriam and I explained that this was an open-assignment, and we gave ideas of things the students could photograph such as favorite things, family members, etc. I said something to the extent of, "Each frame is valuable, so take your time and pace yourself. Be prepared to explain why you chose to take a certain photograph. There are no boundaries and the sky is the limit..." and Miriam added, "This is your safe place. Don't be afraid to say what you feel. And (when critiquing) it's okay, you don't have to like every photograph."

The children asked more and more questions as the class came to an end. One boy repeated the steps (how-to take a photo) back to Miriam and me, to assure himself that he understood how to use the camera---it was precious.

The class concluded with repeated thank-yous from all of the students, as they continually said, "Thank you, Madame." You could see the gratitude in each child's eyes, as if the camera was a source of empowerment.

I am excited to see the students' understanding of photography grow and develop over the next 9 weeks. I hope that they continue to ask questions and that they are able to investigate the world they live in with their cameras.

I don't know where this project will go. I have undefined expectations, as I haven't ever done a project like this before. I hope to see "what works" and what doesn't, in teaching photography, as I would one day love to teach it at the high school, college, or inner-city non-profit organization level.

I hope that this experience allows me to re-visit and to dive deeper into the basic elements of photography.

At the conclusion of 10 weeks, I would love to help create a photography exhibit with Miriam. The exhibit would feature all of the students' photographs for their family, friends, and community to see.

Furthermore, Miriam proposed the idea of featuring their work in an exhibit on our college campuses! What a wonderful way to share this story and their stories with our campuses. I think it would be such a unique opportunity to sell some of these photographs (framed, or matted, of course) back home to raise money for the school and village.

One of the girls, a friend of mine, who largely made this project possible, donated to "PhotoTeach" as a part of her friends' Christmas presents. She wants me to send her some of the photos I take, at the conclusion of this mission, and plans on using them as Christmas cards for friends--I thought that was SUCH a creative idea. The possibilities with this project are limitless.

A bit of inspiration from "Into the Wild"--a book that Kenz is currently reading:
"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." Today, was one of those new experiences for me. A new horizon, filled with so much joy.