Lambeth
Summer Project
Course programme
BRIXTON
At Brixton, we had a regular group of 12 young people who attended
all the sessions, plus a few who dropped in to one or two sessions.
The group learned how to use an SLR, and practiced by taking portraits
and action shots of each other in the playground. The following weeks
concentrated on producing documentary-style images of the local environment.
The group discussed what they liked and disliked about Brixton, and
had great fun capturing images of the sights and characters to be found
on the streets of Brixton and Stockwell. They also learned how to print
their own black-and-white pictures in the darkroom.
CLAPHAM AND KENNINGTON
Here, the photography sessions were run as a drop-in, with each
session lasting for a couple of hours. Many young people came back
every week, but each session saw some new arrivals too – by the
end, there was quite a big group! We worked mainly outside, taking
advantage of the very bright and sunny days. We mostly used Polaroids
and
disposable
cameras, and concentrated on using photographs to tell stories.
We created story boards on issues such as drugs awareness and bullying,
and we used
masks to turn ourselves into mystery super heroes, producing portrait
photos of each other ‘in character’.
STREATHAM
Here, too, the workshops were organised on a drop-in basis, but
each session lasted for half a day. We used a combination of SLRs
and disposable cameras, and concentrated on different approaches
to portraiture and exploring the theme of personal identity. We took ‘portraits’ of
each other which focused on details other than our faces – jewellery,
trainers, hands, hair and details of clothing – and mounted them
as joiners, building up composite images of each other from the fragments
we had captured. We also created images of ourselves posing as our favourite
stars, and looked at how photographers use the ‘tricks of the trade’ to
create a particular impression of a person in a photo.
Special thanks to Zoom In volunteers Faye, Francis and Silvia, and to
the project managers, staff and volunteers at each site.
August
2003
