Month: May 2021

West London zine produced by youth, run by the Photojournalism Hub and supported by W12together!

As the West London Zine project is drawing to a close, we look at the past weeks producing the local zine with west London youths with great joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Working through national lockdown, personal and collective challenges has not been an easy task, however the young participants have demonstrated great commitment, resilience and spurred creativity.
The project run with regular online sessions combined with those on field and one to one mentoring. Every two weeks, we published a new edition of the zine with content produced by the young participants. These included photo stories, articles, features, illustrations covering topics on the impact of Covid-19 on young people’s lives, the challenges that local businesses face as well as how they adapted their work to navigate the current difficult times. Photostories have poignantly exposed the solitude experienced by the elderly, students school experiences wearing face covering and social distancing and their hopes for a future post Covid-19 . The project has given the participants the experience of working on field developing reporting and photography skills, including interviewing, editing, writing, captioning, storytelling, proofreading, ethics. Working on field whilst receiving guidance has been a very positive experience according to the participants. Using a quote from one of the students: the thing that I enjoyed the most is being able to try something new. I learnt photography skills and journalism skills. I have also learnt interviewing skills. I would use it for my portfolio, CV and everyday skills to take photos.
Moreover, the experience of having their work published in an editorial has been very beneficial; it provided focus, self-esteem and improved confidence in their abilities.
For the Photojournalism Hub, the experience of running this project has been very positive. It achieves one of the main purposes of its mission; to provide opportunities to young people and those disadvantages with demonstrable CV of published work and reporting and photography skills equiping for better chance of entering further education, work experience and work placement.
Photojournalism Hub is very thankful for the kind support provided by W12together, which has enabled us to deliver this project and make a meaningful difference in the lives of the participants and our community.
To view some of the zines:
https://photojournalismhub.org/wondering-about-west-london/
https://photojournalismhub.org/wondering-about-west-london-issue2/
https://photojournalismhub.org/wondering-about-west-london-issue3/

The Photojournalism Hub Knowing You project has received a Recognised award from the London Faith & Belief Community Award!

I would like to express my thanks to everyone for their Nomination, the wonderful participants, the charity Near Neighbours, the London Faith & Belief and Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Greater London’s Council on Faith.
It is an honour that the Photojournalism Hub’s Knowing You project will be receiving a Certificate of Recognition from the Faith and Belief Forum and Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London’s Council on Faith on the 30th November at The Royal Society of Medicine.  

The Knowing You project is among the 40 selected projects ‘deemed exceptional’ by this year’ judges and the Faith & Belief Forum that have provided support, respite and are working to make London a city that is inclusive to everyone and continuing to do so despite the challenges posed by the current pandemic.

It has been a wonderful experience to engage with women of different faiths and backgrounds living in White City with the Knowing You photography project to inspire bonding and community cohesion whilst providing visual narrative and photojournalism teaching. The project supports participants to bond one another, promoting respect and acceptance and aims to dispel prejudice and barriers of ethnic, religious and racial discrimination by encouraging participants to get to know a fellow participant through developing a photo story of each other. The project has culminated in the production of a photo book, which will be soon shared to the wider public containing wonderful visual stories and testimonies of the powerful human connections. The project has been kindly supported by the charity Near Neighbours.

By Cinzia D’Ambrosi

We had a WhatsApp application to keep us informed of any project updates. Up to two weeks ago, we did not know that we would have relied heavily on technology to stay connected. And as the time went past, it became the only option to keep us connected.

The COVID-19 global outbreak has dramatically changed the lives of many and with it the way we communicate and interact ‘each other’s stories. Social distancing and isolation have left millions to largely interact via digital means.

I am glad that the Knowing You project, which began three months ago has provided a wonderful ground for women in west London to meet, get to know each other and develop a photography narrative on each other stories. This has led the participants to naturally want to continue with the project and navigate through the immediate challenges.

Moving from face to face engagement to working online will reflect this exceptional time of distancing, isolation and profound sadness.

“The project has brought women from different backgrounds and communities together through learning, dialogue and photography. It has been an incredible to see the complexity of people’s idea develop and take form. All this with Cinzia’s help, support and guidance. People have learned about far more than photograph during the project” – Katherine

Knowing You is kindly supported by the charity Near Neighbours.

Photo and Text: ©Cinzia D’Ambrosi

By Laura James

Photojournalism is an industry that is still dominated by men. Suzanne Plunkett, award winning photojournalist, reaffirmed this fact during the Photojournalism Hub’s talk event last Monday. She recounted her impressive career and highlighted that she was always among only a handful of women photographers within a sea of men when working for agencies. Her lived experience can be reflected in the fact that ‘just 18% of the AOP’s accredited photographers and assistant photographers are women.’ (Steven: 2019). Along with the clear gender bias towards employing male photographers, she also touched on issues of sexism from managers in agencies, not being taken as seriously as her male counterparts and the lack of demand for stories that cover important female issues.

Talking about these issues was pertinently timed as International Women’s Day was to be celebrated just 6 days ahead of the talk. The theme of this year’s IWD was Each for Equal – aiming to help create a more equal world where women are always on the same platform as men. Suzanne, along with Chiara Ceolin and Quintina Valero (the two other speakers at the event) are certainly helping to create gender equality by doing such amazing work with women around the world and documenting their stories. They have worked on projects with victims of female genital mutilation, sex trafficking and female prison.

By having more amazing female photojournalists in the industry we are creating a levelled playing field and going against a male centric selection of stories in the media. We need to keep recognising the achievements of female photographers and those who are telling the stories of women to come closer to a world where gender discrimination is a thing of the past.

Reference 

By Laura James

We can learn someone’s name, age, job and where they live. We can ask about their interests, hobbies and how they spend their time. We can acquire many facts and details about them, but can we say we truly know that person?

I believe to really know another we need to go deeper than the surface level, delve beneath the trivia and touch upon one’s core. We must unearth the defining moments in a person’s life and understand what has shaped them. Ask about their deepest fears, their hardships and come to understand their dreams, passions and longings. When we discover the complex, messy and beautiful nuances of a person, we are beginning to know them.

And this is what the Knowing You project is all about. It is about going beyond the small talk and making those connections. It’s asking us to break down barriers and cross unknown territory. It is bringing women from diverse backgrounds together and learning who they really are underneath the exterior glaze. Through the project I hope to truly get to know the other women participating and allow myself to be known to others. I am excited for the journey to unfold and to see how this manifests in the photographs taken.