![]() We want them to feel recharged,” she said. “This really can be a place of respite for them. Wiesner, a teacher at Stetson’s program, says it’s an after-school program, it should be fun. Oftentimes, the young people in the room assist the adults and help them shape the activities for the day based on what the students are feeling. The Shutterbugs program doesn’t use a typical teacher-student model. “They use their cameras to try to figure all this out.” “It’s part of their therapy, to photograph the neighborhood and come to terms with what they have to deal with every day,” said Rocco. “It’s a distraction from all the bad things that we see,” said Burgos.įor many of the students that Rocco teaches, photography becomes a way to process their lived experiences - whether it’s life in lockdown or their everyday realities. The program helps her daughter focus on the good in their Kensington neighborhood, where there’s a strong presence of drug use and unhoused residents, she added. “I’m super proud of her because I feel like it’s an outlet,” said Burgos. There isn’t a photography program there, but Agosto’s mom, Dalia Burgos, plans to enroll her in one so she can continue to pursue the hobby. Her photo of a blazing red North Philly sunset is featured in the recent issue of Motivos Magazine.Īgosto graduates from Stetson this year and is headed to Walter B. “Now I’m taking pictures of animals or flowers and like nature in the sky and trees and stuff that look cool,” said the 13-year-old. The program has taught her how to branch out and capture the world around her. “When I was younger, I would take pictures of my family,” said Agosto. The camera “has an element of magic” that students experience, she added. “They surprise us and they surprise themselves with the ways they’re able to tell a story that they may or may not have known that they had to tell until they pulled out their camera,” said the teacher. “The students get very brave and we get to see them conquer some of their fears and insecurities”, said Shoshanna Wiesner, a photography teacher and the program director at Photography Without Borders. “It’s kind of like me breaking through that wall that I put up,” he said. The photo represents a breakthrough to the high school student. (Photo Courtesy of Jesús Rincón)Arroyo’s photograph is the cover image on the issue of Motivos Magazine that published the students’ work. John Arroyo, 19, celebrates his photo being the cover of Motivos Magazine at John B. “But over the quarantine, I learned with my art that I can show myself more.” “I used to be shy, used to not really talk a lot,” said Arroyo. The snapshots got him more comfortable - and confident. He began to take photos and express his “artsy moods.” Through his photography, Arroyo worked through some anxiety he had. His parents signed him up for a photography class at Taller Puertoriqueño for high school students during the pandemic. “They’re trying to figure themselves out, each and every one of them.”įor 19-year-old John Arroyo, photography has been a healing medium. “That was sort of the inspiration for me with my kids because they’re on their own journey too,” said Rocco. It was a life-changing experience that ultimately led him to create his organization and begin teaching photography. Through photography, he explored that cultural part of his identity. The Italian and Colombian 52-year-old traveled to Colombia to connect with his heritage. Rocco started the program almost ten years ago after he used the camera for self-discovery himself. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor ![]() It’s also currently at Taller Puertoriqueño, a cultural pillar in the area. Stetson Charter, Eugenio Maria De Hostos, and Kensington Health Sciences Academy. Shutterbugs is an after-school extracurricular for students at select middle and high schools across Kensington and North Philadelphia - Antonio Pantoja Charter, John B. ![]() “It’s all about helping them discover their own voice,” said photographer Tony Rocco, the founder and executive director of Photography without Borders, the organization behind the photography program. This year, the young photographers gathered to celebrate being published for the second year in a row in Motivos Magazine - a national bilingual magazine by and for young people. Most of the students in the North Philadelphia-based Shutterbugs photography program join because they’re curious about how they can take more “aesthetic” photos for Instagram.īut rather than focus on selfies, the students learn how to use the medium as a tool to tell stories about themselves and their neighborhoods.
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