The Soma Institute, Soma, Lower River Region, The Gambia, West Africa – PTS’s photographer and tutor, Jason Florio, along with the students input, present an edit of their images, taken during their workshop.
We’ll be sharing more images from our Gambian students soon – plus more ‘Behind-the-Scenes‘ images of Jason Florio and the students at work, from all the workshops.
After each of our 1-day ‘Photos Tell Stories: teaching photography – a visual language‘ workshops, Jason Florio (PTS’s photographer and tutor) would make an edit of the students work. When darkness fell, we would then project their images onto a huge inflatable, cinema-sized, screen – thanks to our main partners, the U.S. Embassy, Banjul – for the whole village or town to see.
The above shots are from the night projections in Soma, in the Lower River Division of The Gambia, showing the Silicon Institute students work. It was quite the party – cheering, singing, and dancing as each image was projected.
Soma is a noteworthy place to us, as we had passed through there on both our West Africa expeditions. We stopped to get supplies, late 2009, when we were walking around The Gambia: ‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush – 930km African odyssey‘ with our two donkeys and a cart (to carry only our camera and camping gear – and not us, I hasten to add!). During our walk, Jason made formal portraits of all the village chiefs and elders who we stayed with each night. These images resulted in an award-winning body of work – ‘Silafando – a gift to you on behalf of my journey‘ – and they have also been exhibited around the world.
Starting at the source of the River Gambia, in the Fouta Djallon Highlands of Guinea, we had over-landed up and down the mountains, before getting our two canoes into the river in Kedougou, on the boarder of Guinea-Conakry. The aim of this journey was to make a photo documentary of the people who live and work along one of Africa’s last major free-flowing rivers – before the potential building of a dam, which will irrevocably change many of those peoples lives. The ‘River Gambia’ body of work has also been exhibited worldwide – via exhibitions and media coverage.
After showing our PTS’s students both bodies of work, along with teaching them the techniques of photography, throughout the workshops, a couple of them have shown a real talent for capturing an image. We hope that they will continue to develop this talent. Please check out more of the students work here.
A selection of images of the ‘Photos Tell Stories‘ school students, from various towns and villages around The Gambia, West Africa, showing off their Certificates of Attendance – which each student received after completion of their photography workshop with photographer and tutor, Jason Florio, and producer, Helen Jones-Florio.
Tote bag design by ‘Jekkah – African inspired clothing‘ – made in The GambiaAila Senior Secondary School, Kembujeh, The Gambia, West AfricaCatherine Mahoney, St Joseph Senior Secondary School, Kombos, The Gambia, West AfricaYa Ida Drammeh, SBEC International School, Kombos, The Gambia, West AfricaSally Asamoah, Aila Senior Secondary School, Kembujeh, The Gambia, West AfricaKadjiatou Jawara, Imam Malick Islamic School, Kombos, The Gambia, West AfricaMuhammed Sinera, Imam Malick Islamic School, Kombos, The Gambia, West AfricaFarafenni Senior Secondary School, Farafenni, The Gambia, West AfricaSt Martins School, Kartong, The Gambia, West AfricaFlorence Ampong, Principal, St Joseph Senior Secondary School, Kombos, The Gambia, West AfricaGerald Sowah, St Joseph Senior Secondary School, Kombos, The Gambia, West Africa
We are now working on an exhibition, to be held in The Gambia, of the students work…news on this coming soon.
We have so much more to share with you. So, please check in again to see more of the students work. In the meantime, if you would like to check out the students work we have uploaded so far, please click on ‘Students Work‘ and ‘Teaching the Art of Portrait Photography‘
To view more of Jason Florio’s work, please visit his website: floriophoto.com
We’ll be posting more about our Photos Tell Stories photography workshops, here in The Gambia, shortly. If you’d like to check out some of the students work, check out this link.
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 