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Methodology
#daimieiocchi Participating Photography Workshops
Dai miei occhi (Through my eyes) is the Italian name of a programme involving five participating photography workshops that aim to explore the potential of children and adolescents living in marginalised situations (e.g., extreme economic or educational poverty) to be agents of change, allowing them to express their feelings, thoughts and voices through photography. These workshops are run in five different Italian cities in direct collaboration with The Tree of Life and seven local photographers. Through these workshops, young people are asked to tell stories of their neighbourhoods through their eyes. During the lessons, the participants learned the main concepts of photography and immediately put them into practice by capturing their surroundings using a digital camera (mobile phone or tablet) during the pilot project and an analogue camera in the four other workshops. The photos become a pretext for reflection and feedback sessions in which the participants are asked to talk about their feelings and thoughts and about their lives in the community and the neighbourhoods in which they live. To conclude the educational cycle, some photos were selected and displayed in a public exhibition in the district to involve the community. The #daimieiocchi workshops were made up of four sessions plus a closing public exhibition of photography in the neighbourhood. Each session was 1.5 to 3 hours long, depending on the conditions due to the pandemic and the specific organisation in each city. The four workshops involved a total of 62 children and adolescents from 7–13 years of age. For each city, one or two professional local photographers were involved in guiding the young people through the world of photography. They participated in all the sessions, being responsible for a theoretical introductory lesson on photography and providing technical guidance during practice. The fact that they were local photographers was relevant because of their knowledge of the local culture, dialect and neighbourhood. |
Lesson plan
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First lesson - Welcome and introduction to the workshop
This session aimed to introduce the participants to the aims and objectives of the workshops. After a brief presentation of the project, the team and the participants, the workshops began with an introductory theoretical lesson on analogue photography guided by the local photographer. Then, the young people were given their participation kits, consisting of a branded cloth bag with a notebook, a pen, an analogue camera and a 35 mm black and white film with 36 shots, which they were invited to open and load into the camera and to go out and try to take their first photographs in a short practical session. For one week, the young people were given an unknown tool to work with, without being able to see the photographs immediately, as they had been used to with a mobile phone or tablet. Waiting to see their results produced some nervousness and a lot of excitement, which served as a good hook to work on commitment and respect for the analogue process. The following week, the photographer was in charge of collecting the cameras, developing the films and preparing the digitised photographs for the next session. |
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Second lesson - Reflection and discussion session
This was the first reflection session of the workshop, aimed at putting the young people’s reflections into practice to begin to awaken their self-confidence through the selection, description and interpretation of the images they had taken. During this session, the participants were presented with their first developed photographs, printed on paper to spark discussion. “Through photography, it is possible to learn to see through natives’ eyes. Verbally, we can interview natives and share the realism of their visual context” (Collier et al., 1986, p. xvii). One by one, the children’s work was analysed and their ideas shared with the group. We showed the selection of their five favourite photographs and asked questions about the motivations behind each shot, leading the participants to give meaning to their work. The cameras were returned to the participants at the end of the session and loaded with a second film, this time in colour, so that they could keep shooting for the next two weeks. |
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Third lesson - Photography session in the neighbourhood
The third session was entirely practical, guided by the photographer and followed by the foundation’s instructors, who encouraged youngsters to consciously and intentionally take pictures. The cameras were reloaded with the third film, in black and white, with another 36 shots, and the participants were invited to go outside to take photos of the neighbourhood. The purpose was to give young people more reliance on the discipline of analogue photography as well as to solve any technical or conceptual doubts that they might have. The last two films were collected to be developed and printed for the last session. |
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Fourth lesson - Reflection session and co-creation of the exhibition
During this meeting, the young people were presented with all their photographs printed in small format: on average, 100 photographs per participant. We proposed co-designing the final exhibition, transitioning from a personal reflection and individual selection of photos to a co-creation activity in which we sought to unveil and understand the motivations behind each image. We needed this interpretation to construct a collective story by connecting the many meanings in a cohesive way that made sense and enhanced self-confidence. |
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Fifth session - Public photography exhibition
Four public photographic exhibitions were held in the districts where the workshops were located in July and September 2021. These events, which were primarily directed at the participants, were intended to mark and celebrate the conclusion of a cycle and share the results of their labour with their loved ones and the community. To give greater importance and solemnity to the work done, graphic marketing material was designed for each exhibition, including a banner to promote the event on social media, a printed poster with an introduction to the project and another with information about The Tree of Life and its Varcare la Soglia (Crossing the Threshold) programme, as well as a catalogue presenting all the images, their creators and collaborators. Every exhibition was inaugurated with a brief introduction to the AMASS (Acting on the Margins: Arts as Social Sculpture) project and the #daimieiocchi workshops, followed by comments by the instructors and photographers. The visitors were then invited to explore the exposition, and drinks and snacks were shared. The photography formats and exhibition arrangements were adapted to the local conditions in the different locations each. |