PhotoVoice

‘Beyond Vision II’, PhotoVoice

Working in collaboration with the international charity PhotoVoice, HS Projects launched ‘Beyond Vision II’ in 2009, part of a three year project with street children from Ecuador.

PhotoVoice worked in partnership with local, non-profit organisation Juconi, to help them find ways to use photography in their therapeutic work, supporting street children and families living in circumstances of extreme marginalisation. That stage of the project sought to more fully integrate photographic activities into Juconi’s therapeutic methodologies in their direct work with families and children in the districts.

‘Ecuador is known as the land of fruit and flowers. We live in the middle of the city and we still have glimpses of the beauty of nature. Nature in Ecuador is under threat. We need to take great care of what is precious to us all.’

The young photographers who participated in ‘Beyond Vision II’, spent some time finding and capturing beautiful natural details in the urban wasteland of Guayaquil, seeking to show the resilience of nature in the face of human development, and making a more metaphorical point about the deceptiveness of appearances. As street working children, they have often been judged by appearances too soon by those who did not choose to get close enough to find the beautiful people with such huge potential at the root – seeing only the ugly circumstances they are surrounded by and embroiled in.

In addition to supporting Juconi’s ongoing therapeutic work, PhotoVoice awarded several of the young people who undertook the advanced photography course, with bursaries to allow them to take their photography further and continue to benefit from their new skills. With their own digital cameras and with ongoing support and tuition, these young people pursued their dreams to become professional photographers, or simply to use photography to explore their situation and express their thoughts and dreams to the world.

JUCONI (Junto Con los Niños or Together with the Children) was founded in 1995 as an Ecuadorian not-for-profit organisation that provides specialised educational and therapeutic services to street-working children and their families.

PhotoVoice is an award-winning international charity and the only development organisation of its kind in Europe. Its projects empower some of the most disadvantaged groups in the world with photographic skills so that they can transform their lives.

‘Beyond Vision II’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).

‘Beyond Vision I’, PhotoVoice

Working in collaboration with the international charity PhotoVoice, HS Projects launched ‘Beyond Vision I’ in 2008, a three year project with street children from Ecuador.

In partnership with the local, non-profit organisation Juconi and photographers, Lara Kay and Lynn Weddle, ‘Beyond Vision I’ continued the photographers’ earlier work with street children that had begun in 2005.

Photographic courses for street children were run in partnership with the Chantal Fontaine School of Photography in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On completion of the beginners’ course, an advanced programme was run for some of the most enthusiastic and talented young photographers. They learned photographic skills, transferable IT skills, such as website design, and also had the opportunity for tutorials and portfolio reviews with professional photographers. Four-month internships within the photographic industry in Ecuador, alongside encouragement to enter photographic competitions and exhibitions, helped raise the participants’ profile and professionalism while broadening their employment opportunities.

‘Giving children who literally have nothing, access to the luxury of cameras and images of themselves and their lives is a significant contribution in itself. From Juconi’s perspective the lasting impact of ‘Beyond Vision’ has been bringing to the children a realisation that what they choose to photograph is a communication from them.’

JUCONI (Junto Con los Niños or Together with the Children) was founded in 1995 as an Ecuadorian not-for-profit organisation that provides specialised educational and therapeutic services to street-working children and their families.

The Chantal Fontaine School of Photography is a prestigious establishment based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is run by Chantal Fontaine, a professional photographer, and provides key commercial photographic services, running a digital studio, an agency and production services, as well as an acclaimed educational programme.

PhotoVoice is an award-winning international charity and the only development organisation of its kind in Europe. Its projects empower some of the most disadvantaged groups in the world with photographic skills so that they can transform their lives.

‘Beyond Vision I’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).