Today we finally met our students and looked at their personal work to get a sense of their abilities as photographers. I have to say I haven’t seen such a group of talented photographers in ages.  Every one of them had fascinating work. The work ranged from portraiture to documentary to landscape to autobiography to travel to reportage.

It was so amazing to see such strong work and meet such motivated students. Janette and I were excited to begin our workshop, and so, we got ready to take the students out shooting. First up was a recording studio, where we watched our students try to figure out how to shoot in a small space where not much action was going on. In groups of three they worked hard to make something out of very little, until there was really nothing more to do.

Then, we went to Los Dos Caminos, a park downtown where skateboarders try jumps and kids hang out in the afternoon.  It was wonderful to see our students go right up to people and ask if they could take their photos.  In fact, several of the students came up to me and said they had no idea “these people” were so friendly and nice.  In Caracas, the rich and poor never mingle. Both groups believe the other to be dangerous. It was a revelation for our students to find out that people are just people.

We also met some rappers in this square, and took them into a nearby alley to shoot. Everyone was having a great time shooting and posing and hanging out. We stayed as long as the light lasted before breaking up and heading back to the school to download the images and prepare for the next days outing.

Tomorrow we visit a Chavez-supported compound, Tiuna el Fuerte, so stay tuned. It was our best day yet!

All photos Stella Kramer