Thursday 13 May 2010

Shootback by Lana Wong


Lana Wong is a American Photographer who I believe is now living in France. Previously she worked for five years in Africa, during which she worked on a participatory photography project called Shootback, which subsequently led to the book of the same name.

Shootback put basic point-and-shoot film cameras into the hands of 32 teenage boys and girls from Mathare in Nairobi, one of Africa's largest slums. The book documents the results: provocative, compelling images and hand-written words, revealing unexpected sides of these teenager's lives. The photographs show the young people's friends, family life, football fever and the harsh realities of everyday life in the slums with hope, an infectious humor and a disarming sense of honesty.

I have use the book for ideas when developing my own words and pictures workshops. It is also useful for showing young people living in the developed world the harsh reality of how many young people live in povery in parts of Africa.

You can buy the book on Amazon and read reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Shootback-Lana-Wong/dp/1861541325/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274905176&sr=1-1:

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