We are very excited to be offering a workshop in collaboration with our newest partner, Fotokids. From its beginning over 14 years ago in the Guatemala City dump, Fotokids and its founder Nancy McGirr have been providing life-transforming skills to Guatemalan youth living in poverty. This workshop offers the opportunity to work with their students on a project that will push your creative boundaries, as well as further Fotokid’s mission.
Fotokid's Mission is: "to help small groups of Central American young people from the poorest of barrios develop useful, employable skills as a means to self-exploration, expression, and discovery. Through intensive, long-term personal relationships with teachers and mentors, participating children learn to use photography, creative writing, and computers as tools to examine their lives, families, communities and environment.”
Building Skills, Telling Stories
Storytelling will be at the heart of the workshop, as we work in collaboration with youth in the Fotokids program to explore the rich narrative opportunities in this community. Our focus will be on working with the students to deepen their image editing skills and their mastery of the software used in digital storytelling. This is an opportunity to build relationships with young Mayan photographers, while learning from and with them. From basic digital image capture to managing digital work flow, participants of all skill levels with be challenged to take their work to the next level.
Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala
Santiago Atitlán is located on the southern shore of Lake Atitlán in one of the most beautiful regions of Central America. We will be staying in the delightful Posada de Santiago on the shore of the lake. It will provide a homebase from which we can explore the region’s villages, hike the surrounding volcanoes, and birdwatch in extensive nature preserves. www.posadadesantiago.com
Antigua and the Mayan Highlands
From our base in Santiago Atitlán we’ll be ready to take excursions into the Guatemalan highlands, home of the Tzutujil Maya. Also nearby is Antigua, the ancient capital of Guatemala and one of the architectural treasures of the Americas. We will visit the town of Chichicastenango, quiet most of the week but packed on the market days of Thursday and Sunday when venders display handmade textiles and art from all over the country. Opportunities for remarkable image making will present themselves every day of this workshop.
Instructors:
Phil Borges, internationally respected humanitarian photographer and Bridges founder, will lead the Photography instruction on this workshop. He will be joined by Julee Geier, long time Bridges instructor and enthusiast, who will be teaching Adobe Premiere software. Jennifer Geist will come to Guatemala for the second time to facilitate the classroom exchange portion of the workshop.
Guatemala Workshop Testimonials
"What an amazing, life changing, inspiring week. That was probably the most intense week I’ve experienced in the last ten years. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" - Matt, Guatemala 2007
“The instructors were all fabulously engaged, engaging and interesting tutors.”
- Jeff , Guatemala 2007