The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 1/25/07 Section: News

With the mention of Hurricane Katrina, one instantly thinks of images from national newspapers and broadcasts. This semester, however, students of the College have the opportunity to view photos captured by sources at the heart of the crisis-children living in the aftermath of the storm. "Where We Live; Children's Photographs from FEMA's Airport Village," is now on display directly outside of the Seegers Union Great Room. Project Director Pamela Connelly marked the opening of the exhibit on Jan. 17 with a 7 p.m. lecture in the Great Room, sharing her three-month experience working with children living in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) "Airport Village," a fenced-in trailer site for displaced persons in North Baton Rouge.

"I wanted to see what these kids would photograph-to see what they're seeing," emphasized Connelly, a New York-based photographer and middle school photography teacher. She worked closely with "Kids With Cameras," a non-profit organization committed to teaching children the value of photography to reach an audience that spans much further than the local community. Connelly gained her inspiration from "Kids With Camera's" (KWC) founder Zana Briski's documentary Born into Brothels, a 3-year project in which Briski lived within Calcutta's red-light district documenting the lives of the children in the region. But rather then merely filming and interviewing the youth, Briski gave them cameras and photography lessons to document their surroundings.

"Briski gives them a voice, and that's really a powerful thing when you feel like no one is listening," stated Connelly. She noted that the cameras gave her Baton Rouge students "power over their surroundings. FEMA did not want the outside world to see what this looked like." The organization, she noted, "was under a lot of scrutiny for their initial response to the disaster."

"To be given a camera was very powerful," she said. "The kids, they were like sponges. They took it all in."

Connelly stressed to her students the power of art and the importance of "being real-capturing your subjects as being real. It feels dangerous and raw," observed Connelly of the black-and-white images taken by her students, "but at the same time, there was a lot of joy. It just filled them up, and they made these images. It just all spilled out in a beautiful way."

The project even gave the children, many who are struggling to adjust to the overstrained Baton Rouge school system, a taste of the college life. This summer, the group of six youths spoke at Louisiana State University to showcase their work. "All wore their cameras to the show," noted Connelly.

Regarding the Seegers exhibit, Connelly emphasizes the strong voice found in amateur artwork. "To show kids other works by kids is very powerful-it's something they can connect to." She noted one particular boy in the group: "If you ask him what he does, what he likes, he'll tell you, 'I'm a photographer.' It's encouraging to see how this could change their lives."

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