Photographers have long been involved in documenting life in poverty areas. Sixth Street Photography Workshop reconfigures the role of the photographer in the community by sharing the camera with those who have, more often, been its subject. The workshop passes on technical and artistic elements of photography, and presents picture taking as an affirming and artistically driven endeavor.
Sixth Street Photography Workshop works primarily with adults. Its photographers understand the challenges of high crime inner-city neighborhoods. They live in Single Resident Occupancy hotels, transitional housing, and have been homeless. In the photography workshop, they pursue personal work, and participate in artistically directed group projects.
Public art exhibitions grow out of an ongoing program offering free, consistent instruction in the photographic arts. The Workshop has regularly exhibited in its community since it started in1992, and in venues that bring its photography to a broader public. Its archive of images comprises an authentic statement about life at the margins of society.
Sixth Street Photography Workshop has established a productive artistic community within a stratified population, and is devoted to continuing its growth.
|
