Streetlevel SMS - Creative Me Photography Workshop
by Moses Baako - Youth Work ApprenticeOver the October half term in 2016, the Streetlevel youth project ran a Photography workshop with a few young people from the community as well as St John's Church. The idea behind this workshop was to introduce them to different aspects of photography beside that which they might be used to.The workshop was broken up into two segments each lasting a day; with the first looking at smartphone photography and the second studio photography. On the first session the youth were given three smartphone camera lens attachments and the different effects they produced explained to them. They were then divided up into two groups with one headed towards Hackney Wick and the other Brick Lane. We had created a Flickr account for each group allowing them to upload their images with the intention of selecting the best image from each group and framing it for the winner.Each group took some amazing images, with a couple of them receiving immediate likes and comments on Flickr. At the end of the day each participant was presented with an A4 print of an image of their choice, the two winners for the day; Nche and Gosa who demonstrated an acute eye for detail were presented with a framed A3 version of their winning image in addition to their print of choice.We managed to set up a photography studio in the church hall for the second session and the team brought some professional cameras down as well. Kevin and Gianna took the participants through some photography basics and then divided them into two groups, one focusing initially on shooting within a studio setting and the second shooting utilizing natural light after which they were to rotate. Again some amazing images were produced, they were taken through basic image processing in Adobe Lightroom after the respective sessions had been completed. Finally each participant was presented with a Streetlevel certificate at the end of the second session in our mini graduation celebration.We had a total of 16 participants over the two days not including the team running the workshops. The team was comprised of Julian and Moses as the leads and two fantastic volunteers, Gianna and Kevin who shared both their equipment and photography expertise and an equally amazing helper Izzy who helped facilitate the second workshop.Massive congratulations to all the participants and the winners of the photo walks. Needless to say the workshops wouldn’t have been such a success without the efforts of the entire team but especially the volunteers and helper who were just happy to share their work and knowledge. To view some of the images captured during the workshop you may have a look at the Streetlevel Flickr albums: