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THE CENTRE'S OUTREACH PROGRAM
FOR DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
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Fantasy is something you can't feel or touch. Most of the time it's an illusion of something that pleases you or something that you would like to see happen. I see dreams as a way of escaping. I also see dreams as a way of getting out of a problem or a predicament. If it wasn't for dreams, I probably wouldn't be sane.
Valerie R, age 16
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PICTURE MY WORLD is the name of our umbrella program that supports the Centre's Project I See, FOTOFriends, and the Pompey Park After School community education initiatives. Emblematic of Palm Beach Photographic Centre's continued commitment to the community, all three programs stress the development of self-esteem, non-violent means of expression, responsibility, and the appreciation of family and community through the mastery of photography, digital imaging and journal writing. Having generally the same purpose, the programs serve three different groups of at-risk kids. |
The Colorful Girl
There once was a girl who had white and green hair, white eyes, blue teeth, and a red and green face. One day she
was flying around when she found a green pearl. She made it into a necklace
and since that day she was always beautiful.
Tatum W, age 11
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| PROJECT I SEE serves children, ages 11 -17, who are under the supervision of the legal system due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. The program is the result of a collaboration among the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, the Guardian ad Litem Program of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach Juvenile Division, Friends of Abused Children, and the Florida Department of Children and Family Services.
FOTOFriends is directed to kids who participate in the Alateen program at the local Banyan Creek Elementary School. Alateen is a support group for young members of families dealing with substance abuse issues.
I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE is held at Delray Beach's Community Center in Pompey Park. Latchkey kids are instructed in photography and introductory digital imaging by Palm Beach Photographic Centre staff.
Each participant will be given a point-and-shoot 35mm camera (to own and care for) which they will use throughout the program and, hopefully, throughout their teenage years. The resulting images will promote an awareness of participants' experiences over a fourteen week period, proclaiming their own realities in a way words cannot. These images will provide historical and individual perspective to teens who have lost (or never gained) the knowledge and sense of self in relation to others with whom they interact at school, in their families or foster homes, and in the community.
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GOALS
Over a fourteen week period, children will gain broad experience and knowledge in many facets of photography, including:
- how to use a camera to capture the world around them and meaningful moments
- how photography can be also be a tool for creative self expression
- how to develop and print black and white film in the darkroom
- how to apply the latest in computer digital imaging technology to enhance photographic images and self expression
- how to look at and learn from photographs in a Museum setting
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Violence on TV·
doesn't show kids what not to do, but instead,
gives them advice on what to do. Like when they show someone being robbed. The next day you hear on the news that a store, or a home, or somebody was robbed.
Chris R, age 14
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PICTURE MY WORLD CURRICULUM
- Weekly assignments - Specific assignments will challenge the students to capture the multifarious components of their lives, from home and school to friends and "family".
- Challenging directives - To encourage spontaneity and fresh photographs, parameters will occasionally be set, such as "no formalized sports events" and no "staged or posed photographs."
- Written journal - Teens will keep a running journal about experiences of taking these photographs, as well as the content of their images.
- Group discussions - When the images are developed and shared with the groups, the instructor will facilitate a discussion of image content and how the photographers feel about their images. Simple questions, such as "which is your favorite photograph?" will prompt participants to consider their definitions of home, family and friends, and how their photographs illustrate their beliefs and feelings.
AS A RESULT
The participantsâ best works will be kept in a portfolio format. And the students will compile their works in a special multimedia project called a visual diary. The instructor will introduce bookmaking as a form of creative self-expression. The books will include a series of photographs and optional written material that the teens believe best express their lives. These books will be displayed with culminating exhibitions curated, framed and matted by the teens which will take place in the Community Gallery at Palm Beach Photographic Centre and later at Juvenile Court.
PICTURE MY WORLD SUPPORT
The Picture My World Program is made possible through the generosity of the William stamps Farish foundation, The McCormick Tribune Foundation, The Cranium Foundation, The Hasbro Foundation and the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
Additional support provided by Michael Kravit, Janice McVay and Jay Alperin.
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