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Photography
has become an important part of our program. We regularly organize photo
projects for children and young adults. Most participants have never held
a camera in their hands before and they're always excited to use the cameras
and even more so to see the results. Photography is an excellent medium
to explore the world from a distance, even if that distance isn't bigger
than the size of the lens. |
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| Through
photography, the children explore their likes and dislikes; their own
body or their community. The result is a very personal documentation of
life in Copán. Not the pretty pictures you see in guidebooks, but
images that show how local people |
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During
past projects we always worked with analog cameras, but in november of
2007 pour students experimented for the first time with digital cameras.
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In a country where most children don't even have a photo of themselves, a camera is pure magic... One push on the button, a few days delay and then the result! Children do not only learn to express themselves through photography, they also get to keep the results for the rest of their lives. |
See
below |
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*Photo-Story in La Pintada VII
For the seventh time we’re developing this photo project in the community of La Pintada. The children document what they think are important aspects of their lives with a digital camera. The best results will be published in the national newspaper La Prensa. July, 2010
*Photo-Story
in La Pintada Part VI
Each year we develop a photo project in the community of La Pintada. This project we have also implemented in other communities, but every year we return to La Pintada in order to have a collective dpocumentation of six years of history and development in this village. Next year we hope to publish a book with the results of seven years of this project inone and the same community. The theme this year was the cultural identity. After a few sessions we defined the characteristics that form our cultural identity. The children took pictures of their homes, family, food and hobbies. This year we combined this project with the archaeological project in which we visited several places of interest. The participating children documented these excursions through photography.November 2008
*Photo-Story
in La Pintada Part V
For the fifth year in a row we’re back in
La Pintada with our Photo-Story project, in which children document their lives
through photography, this time in the context of their future dreams. We did
a spin-off on the project last summer when Dutch volunteer Rosan Breman developed
the Video-Story project in the same community. The result is a short documentary
that portraits the children in their own (chosen) environment. October -
November 2008
*Maya
Chortí ABC Photo Project
The photo ABC we made about health issues just came
back from the printer and looks so good that we are super inspired to work on
a new version, this time one about the Maya Chortí alphabet which is
quite a bit different from the one we use in Spanish or English: fewer letters
and lots of use of the letters k, w, and b, for some reason. August 2008
*Health
Photo Project
For our multidisciplinary health project in three
remote villages, we have developed two photography projects for children between
7-12 years old. One group takes pictures of words related to health that will
later be printed on canvas, so each school will have its own "Health Alphabet".
The older children explore the do's and don'ts of different health issues and
take pictures of these scenes. March-April, 2008
*Photo-Story
in La Pintada Part IV
Fourth edition of the Photo-Story project with the
same participants documenting their lives in the community of La Pintada. This
time the children learned to use digital cameras. The end of the project
was celebrated with a festive inauguration of a photo exhibition of the results.
November 2007
*Photography
for Young Adults
Short course about the basics of photography for the adolescent students of
our advanced course. Classes taught by Lise Winters. August 21, 2007
*
"Men / Women seen through the eyes of Women / Men"
Photo project for young adults in which the participants
explore gender issues through photography. May, 2007
*
"Who am I?" and "My Community" Part II
Continuation of the photo project in a Maya Chortí
community and Copán Ruinas. March - April, 2007
*Photo-Story
in La Pintada Part III
Third edition of the Photo-Story project with the
same participants documenting their lives in the community of La Pintada. November 2006
*
"Who am I?" and "My Community" Part I
Photo project in two Maya Chortí communities
in which children explore their community and their maya inheritance. July
- August, 2006
*
Trip to the Beach
Twenty children from the village La Pintada went to
the beach as a reward for finishing their English course. Arte Acción
Copán Ruinas lent the travelers cameras so they could document their
trip, which resulted in an exhibition and photo album. June, 2006
*
My Favourite Body Part
The fifth graders of the Mayatan School took black
& white pictures of their favourite body part and wrote why they like it
so much. The project was repeated with 12 students from Huron University
College, Canada. May, 2006
*
My Favourite Body Part & Photo Story in Maya Chortí Communities
The students of Huron University College conducted
several photo projects at the schools of the communities they worked in (La
Estanzuela, Rincón del Buey, San Rafael). May, 2006
*
Exhibition Photo-Story II
Al participants and their family members came to our
gallery for the festive inauguration of the results of the second Photo-Story
project in La Pintada. November 27, 2005
*
Photo-Story in La Pintada Part II
Repetition of the Photo-Story project with the same
participants documenting their lives in the community. After picking a theme
such as projects in the community, family, beans, flowers or bananas, the participants
explored the theme through photography and writing. The results were put together
in handmade individual albums. November, 2005
*
Mural Photos
Exhibition at the Internet Café in La
Casa de Todo of photos taken during the making of several
murals. July - August, 2005
*Photo Project Rincón del Buey
With the help of the Canadian Huron College
students, 40 children from Rincón del Buey participated in three different photo
projects. The 4° graders took pictures of nature; the 5° graders did the Photo-Story
Project, taking pictures of their own lives; while the 6° graders set up a play
which they documented through photography. May, 2005
*Nature Photo Project in Rincón del Buey
The same project as mentioned below was repeated
at a school in a rural community where children have a very different relationship
with nature. April, 2005
*Nature Photo Project for Children
How important is nature in our daily
lives? With this question in their minds and armed with a camera, 10 children
from the town of Copán Ruinas expressed their ideas through photography. March,
2005
*Photo Project for Women
9 young women participated in this project
in which they photographed other women, thus showing the important role women
play in Honduran society. February-March, 2005
*Photo-Story in La Pintada
With US photographer Deirdre
Portnoy we went to La Pintada to let 25 men, women and children take
pictures of their lives, as part of the international Photo-Story Project. The
photos were glued in handmade albums that the participants were to keep. The
results, in photos and words, are insight views of modern Mayan life in a small
community. January, 2005