Through My Eyes

THROUGH MY EYES:  THE DC PHOTO-NARRATIVE PROJECT (TME-DC) empowers at-risk youth, providing them with a safe space where they can give vision and voice to their life stories.  Creating a cohesive narrative out of the chaos that is too often a part of their lives, they assert the meaningfulness of their experiences and feel themselves affirmed.  Offering them the skills to document their real life stories and to share those stories within the company of similarly directed youth and ultimately with the world, they are strengthened in their sense of themselves and in their connection to others.

WHAT WE DO

A photograph is a mindful communication. A snapshot is a mindless communication.  While there is nothing wrong with snapshots, at TME-DC we shoot photographs.

Under the guidance of dedicated and empathic mentor-leaders, these youth are given cameras and pens and the opportunity to photograph and write about themselves, their families, their communities, their experiences.  Working both individually and within small groups of peers, they become more intimate with themselves and each other and learn to think before acting rather than to act without thought.

Students meet weekly with their mentor one-on-one and then a second time with mentor and  peers in a group.  Given the intensive nature of the exploration and relationships cultivated between students and leader-mentors, group size is limited to 6 – 8 students and two mentors.     After 30 weeks of reflection, hard work and  collaboration, each group produces an exhibit and book that reflects a slice of their lives in both pictures and words.