Photography project designed to bring out life from students
Maria Buffalo, one of the 11 youth that participated in the project, shows off some of her photos while holding onto her favourite during the exhibition of all of the photography work on Wednesday, July 13 at the Mackwacis Cultural College.
A recent photography exhibit is proving thatsuccess can be found if youth are provided witha chance to focus on the positive and given anopportunity.
A project called Photovoice that involved 11youth from 15 to 19 years of age being providedtheir own camera to shoot whatever theywanted has recently exhibited the artisticproduct created by the young photographers.
Manisha Khetarpal, chair of library studies andscholarly research at Maskwacis CulturalCollege, put together the project with thepartnership of the University of AlbertaDepartment of Pediatrics and the NehiyawKakeskewina Learning Society in Maskwacisafter the elders and community membersrecognized the need to address negativeperceptions.
“It was really about portraying that the presentand our future is our youth,” said Khetarpal.
“We wanted to be proactive and there are a lotof talented young people here that can learn, ifthey are given the opportunity, that they can doanything that they want in life.”
She added that Photovoice encouraged the youth to promote their own strong identity along withthe strengths of themselves and their community.
“The photos that they all took really show the similarities that there is between the youth (here) andthose in any community, that we shouldn’t be placing labels on things or people. It was that focus ofprojecting a positive image that they all succeed in doing,” Khetarpal said.
One young woman, Maria Buffalo, got involved because she really wanted to learn photography andshow off what she sees.
“What attracted me was what we never see can be something special. The entire concept of my showwas that there is beauty out there, but we need to look for it,” said Buffalo, a 15-year-old student atErmineskin Junior-Senior High School and a member of the Samson Cree Nation during the photoexhibit held at Maskwacis Cultural College on Wednesday, July 13.
Her favourite shot is one she took of some berries that she still doesn’t know what kind they are, butthat isn’t what really matters.
“This photo really helped me understand a lot about composition. Red is my favourite colour andthere is just a simple beauty about it,” added Buffalo, who is planning to study film and literature atuniversity followed by going to the prestigious Vancouver Film Academy. Her dream is to be amongthe first Indigenous filmmakers nominated for an Academy Award.
Khetarpal also explained they also used the project as an opportunity to implement an OER (OpenEducational Resources) program that uses freely accessible, openly licensed documents and mediafor use in teaching, learning, assessment and research.
“The advantage is that it’s all free plus the documents and textbooks are flexible and can be adaptedfor the student and how they learn,” she said.
Some of the photographs will be on display at Wetaskiwin Hospital, the University of Alberta Facultyof Extension, the University of Alberta Hospital After Hours gallery along with permanent displays atthe Red Deer Hospital and the Maskwacis Health Centre.
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