S
4C new exhibition
The Shoot4Change photo tour continues across the globe to New York City with an exhibition entitled:
“4 Continents 4 Change.” This exhibit will showcase images from a selection of Shoot4Change photographers divided by the continents of Asia, America, Europe, and Africa.
What are the changes from the first segments of the show in Italy?
The exhibit in NYC takes on a new perspective, by bringing attention to the four continents our photographers are working in. It was important for us to make people aware of what is happening in each continent and how the world is divided and united. The hunger you see in the images from people of Africa relates to the hunger you see in America of the homeless in the cities of Detroit. We wanted to unify humanity through photographs, to make people see that we are one in all, regardless how different we are. Shoot 4 Change is about unity and we saw that by creating a cohesive exhibit divided by continents, we can display that concept.
What stories are being featured?
The exhibit features work of over thirty photographers representing collective stories across the continents. Shoot4Change photographers from Asia tell the story of “Those Who Remained” with images from the streets of Fukushima after the 2011 Tsunami. Images from Myanmar show a world rich in color and texture, despite widespread poverty. With thousands fleeing this region, viewers begin to understand what life is like for the Muslim communities in Myanmar who are suffering persecution.
From Africa, viewers will see “City of The Dead,” in Cairo, Egypt, with its haunting scenes of villagers who live in a monumental cemetery. And in Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa, the natives are captured in gritty, mesmerizing images by a 14 year old photographer.
In Europe, we share the story of “The Mud House,” where traces of the memory of the land and its history remain etched into a house and the family that inhabits it. Images from Ukraine provide an unflinching look at the cancer epidemic among children from Chernobyl.
In the Americas, viewers will come face to face the griping topic of “Mental Illness in American Prisons;” poverty and violence in low income communities of NYC and life in the Amazon, where medical missionaries bring treatment to impoverished coastal communities.
An installation of images from the Occupy Movement unites Europe and the Americas with photos from both the Rome and NYC actions, and the work of our S4C Next Generation students around the world demonstrates the global alliance that unifies Shoot4Change. These and many other forgotten stories will be featured. This exhibition explores all aspects of the human condition through the eyes of children with cameras, students and amateur and professional adult photographers.
After New York in July and then Rome in December, how will the photo tour continue for Shoot 4 Change?
We will be bring more exhibits to New York in the near future, such as the collective work of our women photographers and those of the kids from the Shoot 4 Change Next Generation. We will then take the tour to Canada and also continue it in across Europe.
Why does telling stories of the ‘forgotten” change the world?
We are not naive to believe that we can change the world, but what we do know is that every photo and story that we publish and talk about makes us more aware. We are changing our own perspective and how we see the world. The change must come from each one of us and it start with the photos. We recently featured a story of a girl in the Ukrainian orphanage who is mentally challenged, Alina. She takes care of disabled children and takes photos of them, her one dream was to become a photographer, this story touched all of us. In today’s world, we are so desensitized by news, images of war, the celebrity culture and the need for immediate gratification from photos we receive through cell phones and facebook. We wanted to preserve the beauty that is in capturing images, in discussing them and in initiating our viewers to the anticipate the next story. But most of all, we wanted to tell the untold stories that the mainstream media would not feature. Our goal is to allow the communities to speak for themselves and show us their struggles. Our kids from S4C Next Generation classes all start their stories by telling us of what they want to see change in their communities.
How does Shoot4Change operate?
We have over 1,000 volunteer photographers in the network from most regions of the world. We allow the photographers to form their own groups, work with NGOs, schools and different organizations. We recently started a group in Mexico, Japan and Russia and looking to open Bolivia in the next few months. Each location forms their own Next Generation groups and teaches photography to children. In NYC, we have partnered with the Grand Street Settlement and with the first Islamic Cultural Center, Park 51. Among the many partnerships we have formed with non-profit organization worldwide, we are also one of the founding members of YOUGIVE, the smartphone app for fundraising. It’s important for us to use photography as a tool in helping find ways to create better communities. Our motto is, Shoot Local, Change Global.
There are many stories worth being rediscovered. We try to do our best to inspire people to look at their daily life with different eyes. You never know what beautiful (or dramatic) stories await around the corner.
And, yes, it’s true: “The rich have their own photographers..” as Milton Rogovin said, we at S4C are for everyone else…