KidWalk

VisionWorkshops students from the Annapolis High School Crossing Borders program participated in last Saturday’s KidWalk, a 5K fundraiser for area charities.

(Photos by Kirsten and Jack Elstner)

Photo Camp Botswana

Photo by Keso | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Our 2008-2009 program theme for Photo Camp is centered on youth’s connection with the natural environment. We’ve explored how people utilize natural resources, how communities can be redefined by the connecting features of land and water, how cultural norms can “make or break” a community’s responsibility to the earth, and how young people all around the world are proving that this earth, and its contents, are worth protecting.

Humphrey Gumpo, one of the safari guides for camp, leads the Green Team in song over the camp radio network. Photo by Lynn Johnson (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Photo Camp Botswana 2009 built on this strong foundation, and added to it perspectives from children from rural areas in northern Botswana – villages that share borders with protected areas, like Selinda Reserve where the camp took place.

Onttie, left, and Ashanti compare shots. Photo by Lynn Johnson (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Photo by Ernest | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Working side-by-side, educators and mentors from Children in the Wilderness and National Geographic Photo Camp provided an experiential learning environment for the 15 students, allowing them to connect and encounter endangered animals and wilderness in a new way through the power of photography.

Photo Camp students practice using the timer function on their cameras in preparation for the self portrait assignment. Photo by Brian Talbot (staff) | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Self portrait by Naledi | National Geographic Photo Camp Botswana

Photo Camp India

Photo Camp India brought together 20 students from rural and urban areas in Rajasthan, a northwestern state in India. The camp was staffed by Ed Kashi, Jim Webb, Sadie Quarrier and Lindsay McCullough, and was presented in partnership with Sanjhi, an NGO out of Udaipur, India.

The students photographed the rural and urban communities’ relationships to the environment, learning about and experiencing the effects of deforestation, sustainability and solid waste removal.

Together, the students created a photographic story that shows their passion for making their communities, and the world, a healthier and greener place to live.

Students will also have the opportunity to continue their relationship with Sanjhi, as environmental activists and photographers, made possible by a camera and curriculum donation for a leave-behind program. Digital SLR cameras were provided through a generous donation by Olympus Imaging. Stay tuned for updates on the how the program is doing.

(Photos by Jim Webb – Photo Camp India)

Photo Camp at FotoWeek DC

The National Geographic Photo Camp exhibit showcases youths’ perspectives on the 2008 Photo Camp overarching theme of conservation, the environment and connecting to the landscape. As a domestic and international program, National Geographic Photo Camp’s exhibit will include work from Bronx, New York; Santa Monica, California; Port Isobel and Tangier Islands on the Chesapeake Bay; Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Earth University in Costa Rica; the Appalachian Trail in Virginia; Taos, New Mexico; Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands, Maine.

The exhibition was in coordination with FotoWeek DC. About 100 people visited the gallery at the opening reception on November 15th. The exhibit ends on November 22nd.

Special thanks to Archival Arts Services for their generous donation of framing materials for the exhibit.

(Photo by Lindsay McCullough)

Photo Camp at Pop!Tech

For the third year Photo Camp has attended and photographed the innovative conference Pop!Tech. This year, four students from the Maine Islands Photo Camp traveled to the mainland with the staff of the camp. The students photographed presenters and performers, as well as, the scene of the conference in Camden, Maine. The photographs made at the conference were printed by Maine Media Workshops and placed on display at the closing gala at the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum.

[Photo by Brittany C. | Pop!Tech/Maine Islands Photo Camp 2008]

Maine Islands Photo Camp

The Maine Islands Photo Camp spent three days on Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands, 12 miles off the coast of Maine. 20 students documented the working waterfront and landscape of the two islands that has shaped life and culture there.

[Photo by Morgan Y. | Maine Islands Photo Camp 2008]

Photo Camp in Taos, New Mexico

Last month we worked with Taos high schools students to document the Taos Pueblo Indians, as well as the area’s agriculture, architecture and landscape.

[Photo by Winona W. | Taos Photo Camp 2008]

Crossing Borders Exhibit Coming to an End

If you haven’t made it out to see the Crossing Borders exhibit Two Cultures | One Me at the Chaney Gallery in Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, you’re almost out of time. The display includes over 20 images and a case with the journals and cameras that the students used during the workshop this past spring. The exhibit closes September 12, 2008.

Here is the information:

Two Cultures | One Me
Featuring work from students at Bates Middle School, Annapolis, Md.

Exhibition runs: July 24 – September 12, 2008
Opening Reception: July 24, 2008 | 5:30-7:30pm
The Chaney Gallery, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts

For directions to the gallery, click here.

(Photos by Lindsay M.)

Photo Camp on the Appalachian Trail

We are more than halfway through our ten Photo Camps this year, with the latest located on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, just north of Shenandoah. The students photographed people who make a living, recreate and volunteer in and around the Appalachian Trail, taking note of the personal connection that each individual has established with this national park. All of the Photo Camp students created their own relationships and connections to this landscape. This camp has inspired our Appalachian Trail alumni to create a photo club at their school. As the new school year begins, they are looking to get their group together, find activities and, most importantly, new cameras!

To find out more about this camp, email us at info@visionworkshops.org .

[Photo by Lindsay McCullough (staff) | Appalachian Trail Photo Camp 2008]

Crossing Borders Exhibit

Please join the staff and volunteers of VisionWorkshops to congratulate the students of the Crossing Borders photography workshop at a reception for the print exhibition of their work produced this spring. The details follow.

Two Cultures | One Me
Featuring work from students at Bates Middle School, Annapolis, Md.

Exhibition runs: July 24 – September 12, 2008
Opening Reception: July 24, 2008 | 5:30-7:30pm
The Chaney Gallery, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts

For directions to the gallery, click here.

( Photo by Ramzan A. | Crossing Borders Spring 2008 )