In the early 1980s, UPI photographer, Jim Hubbard, began giving cameras
to the homeless children at a shelter he was photographing in Washington DC.
The response from the children was overwhelming. Hubbard soon developed this
project into a program called "Shooting Back" The idea of "Shooting
Back" branched off into other cities and now involves children of all
backgrounds. Hubbards photography and ideas are presented in his book "Shooting
Back".
In Missouri, the Voices program was initiated by Valerie Berta,
a
Universtiy of Missouri graduate student
in photojournalism. After taking pictures in a local park, she was struck by
the curiosity the children had towards her camera. She became inspired to
create her own version of "Shooting Back".
Since Berta first
started Voices in 1992, photojournalism students at Columbia have
carried on the tradition as a way to give back to the community.
The year of 1996 brought the next Voices workshop. It was
initiated by photojournalism student
Eric Adams, who also organized
the program in 1993. Eleven students participated this time. year. The children
ranged in age from seven to 14 years old. Volunteering photography students
acted as mentors for the children, building a personal relationship with them
during the workshop to support them in individual ways. Each child chose a
mentor on the first day. For the rest of the program that mentor provided a
one-on-one learning experience for their child.
The most recent workshop was done on four consecutive weekends in
April 1996. The children were familiarized with cameras, introduced to their
mentors and then they were taken to Douglass Park, where Columbia Parks and
Recreation had its annual "Great Easter Egg Hunt". The children's task
was to take pictures of the egg hunt from their perspective.
The second
weekend had them going to their neighborhood and take pictures of whatever they
liked to take pictures of.
On the third meeting, mentors and students were
taken to the School of Journalism's photo lab, where they printed the favourite
pictures and learned about printing.
Finally, the last time the workshop
got together, electronic photography on the School of Journalism's computers was
introduced and the children contributed their pictures and comments to this
on-line document.
A photographic description of the workshop can be seen in the
Documentary Section, and the children's exhibition
of their favourite photos is at the
Children's Photo Album.
