After a very successful opening night, last Friday, at Alliance Française – of ‘Photos Tell Stories – photographs of The Gambia by Gambians‘ – we have started to receive some serious interest, from those who attended, in purchasing the students prints . We announced on the opening night that all sixty in the exhibit are available to buy. All proceeds from sales, minus the printing cost, will go directly to the individual student.
This is such an exciting prospect, for the students – along with having their work recognised and appreciated, in the exhibition – as it adds value to their work, which is part of what Jason brought into the Photos Tell Stories workshops, all those weeks ago. He wanted the students to realise that if they worked hard and produced great work, the potential is there for them to sell it – as he does his own work – whether to media publications or private collectors of photography.
Judging from the public’s reaction at the opening, and the subsequent print purchase requests, I think the students have proved that they are more than capable; considering 99% of them were beginners to the world of photography.
‘Thank you so much and I am very happy. I saw your post on youtube (TV coverage of the exhibition opening night-48 secs in) and it’s just awesome. We are grateful of you, your husband Jason and the American Embassy for promoting photography in the Gambia. It has raise awareness about what photography really meant. Now i can use photos to tell stories even without put any description on it’Photos Tell Stories workshop student, Abdoulie, Silicon Institute, Soma, The Gambia, West Africa.
We also just got word that Africa Geographic are interested in featuring the Gambian students work, in their on-line magazine, in the coming months. More news on that as and when it comes in.
Check out more from the opening night here. And feel free to subscribe (left hand column), follow us on Twitter, or ‘Like’ our FB page.
Between us, and our main partners, the US Embassy, Banjul, we managed to get around 40 of our Gambian ‘Photos Tell Stories’ photography workshop students down to Alliance Francaise for the exhibition opening last Friday – including the students from as far afield as Soma and Farafenni – and Kembujeh, Fajara, Kartong. And, thanks to Didier Martin, le Directeur of AF, they managed to use their persuasive influence to get GRTS – Gambia TV and Radio – down too.
Along with Jason and I being filmed (although I barely sqwaked out the URL for the blog – a sore throat having taken fierce hold a few days previously, whereby I was barely able to speak by the opening night!), many of the students were interviewed on camera too – all very new and exciting for most of them. GRTS’s presence was an added bonus for them all, including us. Also, in attendance were journalists from The Observer and The Point national newspapers respectively.
Jason Florio & Helen Jones-Florio – GRTS, Alliance Française, The Gambia – click image to view
The response, from those who attended, to the sixty prints on exhibit was extremely positive – particularly (and most importantly) about the quality of the students work. The same question kept coming up throughout the evening: were the students photographers before we taught them? When, in reality, the majority of the workshop students had never even held a camera, let alone taken a photo. We think they did really rather well – and, they obviously listened well to their tutor, Jason Florio, during the theory section in the classroom.
It was great to see so many new, and old friends, turning up to support us all, and those who had seen the posters around and about town, advertising the exhibition, who felt compelled to come and see what this Photographs of The Gambia by Gambians exhibition was all about.
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As the night set in, in the outdoor amphitheater, we then projected a slideshow of images by Jason Florio, from three of our West Africa journeys : ‘River Gambia‘, ‘Silafando’, and ‘Maksutu‘ – along with our short film from hours of footage we both shot whilst on the ‘River Gambia Expedition‘
Thanks to Joshua Shrager, Public Affairs Officer
– our main man at the US Embassy Banjul – and Ric Yoneoka, Deputy Chief of Mission, for believing in what we wanted to do when we first talked to them 16 months or so ago; and for sharing this with us all at Alliance Française, for GRTS. And, to Momadou ‘Papa’ Njie, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, for facilitating and joining us on the road for the photography workshops – and for showing us the best breakfast place in Soma!
And, of course, thanks to all those who partnered with us – they too had a hand in making the workshops and the subsequent exhibition happen. For this, we are eternally grateful.
However, if it weren’t for our very talented Photos Tell Stories photography workshop students – who had inspiration, during the theory work, from some amazing professional photographers, who contributed images – we wouldn’t have an exhibition in the first place. So, abaraka bakeh, jerrejef, jarama boyeh, merci beaucoup! Please check out more of their inspiring work here. Or, if you are in The Gambia, the exhibition runs through May 30th, 2014. And, Jason and I would be more than happy to walk you through it – just email me: helen.jones@floriophoto.com and we can arrange that.
A box bursting with creativity and inspiration – 60 of them in total! Thanks to AdoramaPix, NYC, for their support (PTS’s tote bags by Jekkah)
Now… the curating process begins…
Laying out the images at Alliance Française, The Gambia, West Africa – the venue for the exhibition
The all important part… getting the prints lined up, with PTS’s photographer and workshop tutor, Jason Florio.
Mounting the Fajara students prints from their ‘Portrait’ workshop
And, that’s all you get to see for now. All will be revealed, over the coming days. Right now, we are still in pre-production mode for tonight’s exhibition opening : Alliance Française, Kairaba Avenue, Kanifing, The Gambia, West Africa – 6-9pm – it’s free and open to all.
For those who can’t make it, you check out some of the students work here, on the blog, or follow us on Twitter and ‘like’ the PTS’s FB page. And, you can always subscribe to the blog – in the left hand column.
We look forward very much to welcoming those of you who can make it!
P.S. Lest I forget! We’ll be projecting images, on the big screen, tonight only, of Jason’s photography from ‘River Gambia‘, ‘Silafando‘, and ‘Makasutu‘ – along with showing our short film ‘River Gambia Expedition‘
We picked up the prints at the weekend – thanks to AdoramaPix, NYC, for a their support and a great print job! – one image from each of our young Gambian photography workshop students (we’ll be showing a slideshow of the rest of their work, plus some behind-the-scenes shots of Jason Florio teaching the students). A sneak preview of just one of 60 inspiring exhibition prints, from our students – most of whom had never used a camera before…
The amphitheatre, Alliance Française, The Gambia, West Africa (only wish it was one of our partners, Qcell, advertised on either side of the screen!)
During the opening night, we will also be projecting, on the above big screen in the amphiteatre at AF, Jason Florio’s images from our West Africa journeys, as well as showing our ‘River Gambia’ short film; taken from footage Jason and I both shot whilst on the 1044km source-sea expedition, 2012-13.
For those of you who can’t make it – and, for those who can, it’s a free event and open to all – please feel free to subscribe to the blog (in the lefthand column) or ‘like‘ our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter, for all updates and photos from the opening night.
Thanks, as always, for stopping by. We are looking forward to sharing the remainder of this particular journey with you.
O.K. … back to exhibition prepping and installation of the show. Photos coming soon!
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 