Today was the second day of ROP and some of the students arrived early for class! Yes, high schoolers early for class. Everyone finished their roll of film over the past week and they were eager to see their images. However, they quickly learned that processing is quite a process.

The funny silver tents with sleeves, the old fashioned timer, the blue rubber gloves, it all took some getting used to.  They did an excellent  job blindly loading the film to the spools in the film changing tents, carefully following the directions of their teachers as they moved from chemical to chemical and waiting as negatives dried. It was in the last few minutes of class that the first images were held up to the lights. It was hard work, but it was worth it and next week we go into the darkroom.

The first day was a fantastic success! The 10 teens from Centro Pedro Claver arrived today and we are thrilled to have them!

First our eager teachers introduced themselves and the teens expressed their interest in the medium and even shared ideas about things in their lives they would like to document.

The teachers, Grisha, Olga and Rebecca, were ready to immediately hand out cameras and get everybody started. After learning the parts of the camera, loading the film and covering the basics, we moved outside and started taking photos. They carefully planned and composed shots of each other, neighboring Olde Kensington buildings, a Mural Arts Tour trolley, their shoes, some trees….

The students got a ton of information in their first class; shutter speed, aperture, focus, depth of field, exposure, etc. It was a lot to take in, but once cameras were in hand, they seemed like naturals. They helped each other, asked great questions and were eager to take more photos over the next week.

CPC has been serving their community since 1978. Their primary goal is to empower the immediate neighborhood through community organizing and community development. CPC is committed to collaborating with local organizations and as such has been very helpful to our small outreach by providing us with ten students who can benefit from our program. We are very grateful for their encouragement and faith in us.

ROP will be possible because of the dedication of our volunteers as well as through sponsorship. We are now focusing on raising the funds necessary to support this program. Our fundraising goal is $1500 which will be used to buy all the supplies for the photography program including:

• 10 slr 35mm cameras
• 120 rolls of 35mm B&W films
• B&W Photographic Paper: 8×10 RC paper

If you are interested in contributing to this program, becoming a sponsor, or a part of our team, please contact us. Any support you can give to “Reaching Out with Photography” either in with kind goods or direct sponsorship will be greatly appreciated.

We hope this program will serve as a stepping stone for youth in the area to deepen their interest in photography and other forms of visual art.

We are very happy to announce our photography outreach program will launch as a pilot program this summer. The 6-week introductory class is intended for local students ages 12-16 who want to explore their individual creativity and interest in photography.

The co-instructors, Rebecca, Olga, and I, have gotten together recently to plan our curriculum and are very excited about the program. This is an excellent opportunity for young photographers to learn the basics of black and white darkroom photography while providing a chance to build their portfolios for future studies. All equipment and materials will be provided.

Through demonstrations, lectures, and studio work, students will be introduced to the technical and aesthetic fundamentals of black-and-white photography. The first half of the course will focus on using a 35mm manual single lens reflex camera, developing film, and making prints.

Working from this technical foundation we will introduce students to portraiture, landscape, and still-life photography and encourage them to use their cameras to look at their surroundings more closely. Through seeing, making, and talking about photographs we hope the students will learn about how to view pictures as well as how to express themselves through art. The class will culminate in a gallery show of student work at some point in the fall.

Dates & Time: Mondays, 1 pm – 4 pm, July 6th – August 10th
Location: Project Basho — 1305 Germantown Ave.
Number of students: 10

Cindy and Erin (photo 1) and Olga (photo 2) interacting with students and parents at the Kensington Culinary High School Cultural and Community Celebration.