National Geographic Photo Camps Give Kids New Views

Jennifer Vernon
for National Geographic News

October 4, 2004

Based on the success of last year's pilot program in Washington, D.C.,
National Geographic's Photo Camp expanded this year to New York and San
Francisco (see students' photos). Plans are
also underway to add Miami, Chicago, St. Paul, and Seattle in 2005.

Sponsored by the Contributing Photographers-in-Residence (CPIR) program and the Education Foundation, Photo Camp works to provide young participants from underserved areas with individual attention from mentors at National Geographic magazine and other media partners.

The 11 to 15 students chosen to attend each camp team up with top photographers and editors in newspaper and magazine journalism. This year those pros included staff from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and National Geographic.

At each camp, students produced a photo-essay based on the popular National Geographic department, ZipUSA, with camera equipment donated by Nikon. Each month, ZipUSA focuses on a different U.S. zip code.

Former New York Times photographer Kirsten Elstner, director of the Photo Camp program and founder of Annapolis-based youth photography and writing program VisionWorkshops, believes showing students how to photograph their communities directly matches the National Geographic Society's mission.

"They're learning geography education," said Elstner of the participants. And, better yet, adds Elstner, students are doing so in their home cities. "They're being educated about their own neighborhoods … [and] being asked to show things from their own perspectives."

New York Assignment: Times Square

National Geographic Photo Camp New York participants were selected from the public High School for Fashion Industries (HSFI), based on the school's partnership with New York's International Center of Photography (ICP).

Working with National Geographic and New York Times staff, students set out to document the zip code 10036, encompassing Times Square, which recently marked its hundredth anniversary. Their photographs were displayed at the ICP in June.

Stephen Crowley, a Washington-based New York Times staff photographer now covering the John Kerry's campaign for the U.S. Presidency, was highly impressed with the students' dedication and passion. "They were an absolute joy, these kids."

Crowley, who also teaches in Washington with the Corcoran College of Art and Design's photojournalism program, told his Photo Camp students to believe in their own visual instincts. "We're there to … guide them technically and to help them—not only find their voice, but remain confident in their own voice," said Crowley of his and other instructors' roles.

In working with his Photo Camp students, Crowley received a refresher course himself. "They reminded me just how joyful [photography] is—and [to] always maintain a little bit of innocence in every assignment you undertake."

Beth Flynn, foreign picture editor for the Times, was equally impressed. "They were totally adventurous … in their photography."

Flynn participated on the last day and had a tough task ahead: She had to guide a small group of students in culling their multiple rolls of film down to approximately ten pictures. "Out of those various visions, we had to create something that said, Here's Times Square," Flynn explained.

It was a challenge to choose among such strong photographs, Flynn said. "I was very impressed. It was really hard to edit!"

San Francisco Assignment: The Mission District

Participants at the San Francisco National Geographic Photo Camp came from area Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Radio, and Pacific News Radio. Under the guidance of staff from National Geographic and the San Francisco Chronicle, these students documented the city's Latino-influenced Mission District.

Kathleen Hennessy, picture editor at the Chronicle, said working on the project helped her see the area in a new light. "For me, it was great, because I got to experience [the neighborhood] again and realize how colorful and amazing it is—what a great place to take pictures."

To convey a sense of place, students were asked to take three types of photos: an overall shot, a portrait, and a detail shot. "We tried to show them that these elements will help you create a story," Hennessy said. "You don't want every picture to say the same thing."

San Francisco-based freelance photographer Ed Kashi said teaching at the Photo Camp was a good way to share the knowledge he has accumulated over his career. "I feel the role of being an educator is a way to give back." Kashi, who has shot nine National Geographic features since 1991, has traveled to over 60 countries, including Iraq.

For Kashi, teaching photography to young people serves a broader purpose. "The amazing thing about photography, even if you don't try to make it a vocation … is that it sort of forces you outside of yourself, to look at the world around you and to meet people and to learn."

The results of the San Francisco Photo Camp students' efforts were exhibited at the nearby Southern Exposure gallery. "It was really fun to see their reactions when they walked in the room," Kathleen Hennessy recalled.

"They tried to be kind of reserved and not really show emotions, because they're hip teenagers," she said. "But you could see the sparkle when they went up to their picture and saw it blown up to 11x14 [feet] [3.4x4.3 meters] or bigger and hanging on a wall."

District of Columbia Assignment: Adams Morgan

In Washington, D.C., Photo Camp participants were selected from National Geographic Education Foundation-sponsored LEAP (Learning, Employment, Adventure Program) interns. Their task: to photograph the colorful street life of Washington's Adams Morgan neighborhood.

National Geographic Contributing Photographer-in-Residence Sam Abell used the example of a particularly difficult assignment—documenting the land-rights battle of Australia's Aborigines—to help his students understand the challenges that come with trying to get a story and the persistence needed to overcome them.

Photographs, Abell told his students, can be used to reach a bigger goal. "It wasn't travel, and it wasn't wildlife, and it wasn't pure portraiture," Abell said of the goal of his Australia assignment. "It was [to bring back] photographs that served a purpose."

In observing his students, Abell saw them discover an important secret. "They found out the same thing that I found out when I was their age and I picked up a camera, and that is [that] it makes you a braver, bolder person."

Engaging with the world is what photography is all about, Abell says. "The camera not only allows you to do that, it sort of compels you to do it." And, as his students found out, that has benefits, as well. "They found themselves very noticeably with a new sense of their identity, a new sense of themselves," Abell said.

For Abell, the National Geographic Photo Camps are more than worthwhile. In fact, it was attending a lecture by a Geographic photographer at the age of 15 that altered his own course. "It changed my life," Abell said, "and that was just a lecture."

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