Day 6: 'My Day'

The theme of today's workshop was 'My Day' and the aim was to enable the young people to reflect upon what is important to them throughout a typical day spent at their orphanage.

The volunteers began by using flash cards to break the boy's day into parts; morning, school, dinner, free time, friends, inside and outside.

The task was for the participants to photograph spaces, belongings, people and items that were familiar to them and represented a favourite part of their day.

What follows is a selection of photographs, taken by the young people. We feel they give you a special and unique glimpse into their lives...

Morning



'My Bedroom' photo by Gulshan, 16.



School

'My belongings and school uniform'. Photo by Chirag, 16.

'My school shoes'. Photo by Kiran, 16.

Dinner

'These are tiffins which we take to school to carry food'. Photo by Shankar, 17.

'The Kitchen' photo by Gulshan, 16.

Photo by Shankar, 17.

Friends

'This is a picture of my friends. They're all looking very nice in this picture'. Photo by Kiran, 16.

'This picture I like because it is of my friend. I like one things of his; that he is studying rather than sleeping or playing in his free time'. Photo by Gulshan, 16.



'Friends' photo by Mangi, 15.

Inside

'My Wardrobe' photo by Chirag, 16.

 Outside



'Outside' photo by Ajay, 14.



 

'This picture is of our drinking water tank. All the children drink water from here. There was nice sunlight in this picture and water was running from the tap'. Photo by Chirag, 16.

Free Time



'Playing' photo by Gulshan, 16.

'Washing' photo by Tulsi, 17.

'Football' photo by Tulsi, 17.


Next workshop: Treasure Hunt

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to know more about the work we do or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org or email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office on +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Katherine
bastiram.katherine@gmail.com

Day 5: Colour

Today's workshop was themed around 'colour', which India is certainly not short of! The volunteers began by showing the young people flashcards of different colours and the boys successfully guessed them all in English. They then shared with us their favourite colours; lots of reds and greens came out on top!

The young people were taught how to change their camera settings to black and white and after the volunteers shared a few technical tips with them off they happily went with their cameras. Some of the participants have a real flair for photography and are trying very hard to be as creative as possible with their images. Their effort is outstanding and they are a pleasure to work with.

Here are a few of the boy's favourite from the day...



Photo by Ajay, 14.

'I like this picture because there is a small bird which is sitting on the dry branch of a tree. It is brown and it's looking very nice. When I got close to it, it seems like it's going to attack on me. You can also see dry leaves and branches in the background'. Photo by Ajay, 14.

'This photo I like because in this picture there is a coloured fish. I also like this picture because there are the two colours I like the best, red and green. The small fish is looking very nice, whilst swimming he is blowing bubbles'. Photo by Gulshan, 16.

Photo by Dilip, 17.

'In this bouquet there are two different colours to the flowers which are my favourite colours, purple and green. They are looking very nice'. Photo by Chirag, 17.

Photo by Tulsi, 17.

Photo by Kiran, 16.



Photo by Mangi, 15.



'Everybody likes the heart and on this heart is written 'I love you'. In this picture the heart and the 'u' are in red and there are some leaves on the heart in green. Red and green are my two favourite colours'. Photo by Kiran, 16.

Next workshop: My Day

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to find out more about the work we do or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office on +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Katherine
bastiram.katherine@gmail.com


Day 4: Emotions & Faces

During today's workshop we used the theme of 'emotions and faces' to assist the young people in capturing self-portraits and characteristic photographs of one another.

We introduced the workshop theme by showing the boys a selection of images containing people exhibiting different facial expressions. They guessed the emotion of each photo in English. The purpose of this activity was to provide them with a range of ideas for their practical camera session.

The volunteers taught the young people how to use the self-timer setting on their camera's and introduced them to perspective; suggesting the boys take photographs from varying angles and positions.

We reviewed the participant's photographs at the end of the workshop and here are a few of their (and our!) favourites...



Gulshan acting angry! Photo by Kiran, 15.



'I like this picture because there is a boy who is having his hair pulled by another boy so he seems in pain. I like the expression on his face' by Gulshan, 17.

'I like this photo because there is a boy who is just waking up, he looks quite funny' by Shankar, 17.

'This boy is looking very happy', photo of Tulsi by Dilip, 17.

'Tired' by Dilip, 17.



'In this picture there is a boy who is thinking and I sneaked up on him to take this photo' photo of Ajay by Mangi, 15.



Kiran looking thoughtful. Photo by Mangi, 15.



Self-portrait by Kiran, 15.

It's amazing to see all of the young people really engaging in the project and the volunteers felt they saw many of the skills the boys have learnt so far coming together during this workshop.

Next workshop: Colour

Thank you for reading my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to know more about the work we do in India and the UK or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office on +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Katherine
bastiram.katherine@gmail.com





Day 3: Landscape & Portrait

We made an impromptu visit to the orphanage yesterday for Holi celebrations (India's festival of colour). As the people of Rajasthan say goodbye to winter and rejoice in the colours of spring, we participated in the tradition of throwing beautifully bright coloured scented powder over one another!

Katherine and Kiran celebrating Holi

After the excitement of Holi the photography project resumed and our focus today was landscape and portrait. The volunteers began the workshop by giving the young people a few photography tips, beginning with the 'thirds rule'. Using examples (and our handy translator Gauruv!) we showed the boys that if you divide a good photo into three parts and remove either side what remains should still make for a picture in itself.

The young people were very eager to start using their camera's so after a short explanation of the difference between landscape and portrait off they disappeared outside. After half an hour spent snapping they were asked to select their two favourite photos of the day (one landscape and one portrait) and write a short description about their selected pictures. The volunteers have noticed an improvement in the boys abilities to write descriptions (they find this part quite difficult), so a massive well done to all of our participants. Here are a few favourites from the day... 

'I like this picture because in the summertime it is really hard to find water and all the animals and birds go to look for water. Here we are seeing a chipmunk who is thirsty trying to drink water from a stream' Ajay, 14.

'I like this picture because there is a shadow of myself. I took this picture whilst Sir was talking to me. This picture is portrait and along with the shadow is why I think it looks nice' Gulshan, 16.

'In this image there is a very old door which I like very much. I like this picture, I needed to take a portrait picture and I found that in this' Kiran, 16.

The following photo, taken by Shankar, is not selected by him as his favourite but I thought I would post it because his witty comment did make us laugh...



'The Eiffel Tower!' Shankar, 17.



Unfortunately today was not without it's technical hitches as cameras that appeared to be working to begin with are disappointingly failing us during the workshops. Due to this issue I am planning to start a digital camera campaign when I return to the UK. Basti Ram will desperately need cameras for young people in the orphanage to use during future projects. If you, your friends or relatives have any spare cameras in good used working condition and would be willing to generously donate these please contact bastiram.katherine@gmail.com

Next workshop: Day 4, Faces & Emotions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to find out more about our work or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org or email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office on +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Katherine
bastiram.katherine@gmail.com

Day 2: Cyanotype photogram sun prints

After leaving the young people with their camera's yesterday afternoon the volunteers from our teaching projects met them later on in the day and returned to the volunteers house informing us that the photography participants had been very busily snapping away. We uploaded all the photos from the day and one boy, Ajay, had taken 150 photographs...we may need to spend some time prioritising his best shots but we certainly applaud his enthusiasm!

Caught these two peering through the window!



We began today's workshop with a sun paper (or cyanotype) activity. Sun print paper has been treated with chemicals and once it is exposed to the light for a few minutes it changes colour. Areas that have been covered, and are not exposed to light, remain white. To complete the image you emerse the paper in water, a fun activity that helped to teach the boys about the basics of photography and composition.



The young people adding water to their sun paper prints

The boys searched the orphanage grounds for unusual items of different shapes to place on their paper. After completing the process they set to work at decorating their prints with colours and we were amazed at how engrossed they all were, complete silence as they concentrated and we stayed an hour later than planned so they were able to complete their works of art!

Shankar, 17, proud of his finished sun paper print

The young people's willingness to learn and the effort they are putting in has really touched us today. The boys are on holiday for the next two days as India celebrates one of it's biggest festivals, Holi (the festival of colour). We look forward to resuming the photography workshops at the orphanage on Friday. Until then here are a selection of the boys favourite photos so far... 

By Gulshan, aged 16

 By Kiran, 15

 By Ajay, 14

'This is a picture of my favourite friend, he is in 10th grade. The position that he is standing in is really photogenic and that is why I took the picture' Gulshan, 16.

Next workshop: Portrait / Landscape

Basti Ram would like to thank you for your support. For information about our projects, the work we do and how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org or email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Katherine

bastiram.katherine@gmail.com



Day 1 - Introductions

Eight boys aged 14-17 living in an orphanage in the North Indian state of Rajasthan were today the second cohort to try their hands at using a camera for the very first time. When asked if they had been looking forward to the photography project they all nodded and laughed enthusiastically!

After playing some introductory name games and explaining the aims of the project to the young people the volunteers provided each boy with a digital camera and they set at discovering how to handle it; on, off, zoom, playback...all exciting new concepts!

The group getting to grips with their cameras.



It was then time for each young person to explore the orphanage grounds through their lens. Here are a few of the boy's favourite photos from the day and we think they are exceptional first attempts...

By Shankar, aged 15

By Ajay, aged 14

The young people were then left alone with the cameras for the evening and their homework was to get snapping, choose their favourites and write a short description detailing why they like the photo, what it means to them and how it makes them feel. The volunteers can't wait to see the images the boys have produced...

Tommorrows workshop: Cyanotype photograms using sun print paper.

Basti Ram would like to thank you for your support To find out more about the work we do or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org email info@bastiram.org or call our UK office on +44 (0) 7515 857 865.

Katherine
bastiram.katherine@gmail.com

A Participatory Photography Project 2012

Basti Ram are very excited to be returning to their linked orphanage project in the North Indian state of Rajasthan to deliver 'Life Through the Lens' - A participatory photography project. This is the second cohort of local boys, who have never previously used a camera, to be given the opportunity to take part in the beginners stage of this project.

Volunteers from the UK have travelled to India to teach basic camera skills to boys aged 14-17. Over the course of the next two weeks they will be exploring different techniques and interesting themes which will enable the young people to build their skills base whilst documenting their lives in a creative way.

Many of the boys living in this orphanage go on to work in the local marble mines, a hazardous job involving numerous health risks. It is hoped that by being provided with the opportunities to learn real skills, alongside learning English through our year-round teaching projects, these boys will be in a better position to gain employment in the local tourist industry and experience improved life chances as a result.

Eight boys have been selected for the project and we are told by the ground staff that they are very eager to get started! We very much look forward to embarking on this project and are especially keen to meet and get to know the young people. Over the next two weeks we will be documenting the boys progress and selecting the most interesting photos to share with our supporters via this blog.

'Life Through the Lens' is a sustainable project spanning across 2012 and 2013. Our beginner participants will progress to intermediate and advanced photography projects in the near future. This will make way for more boys from the orphanage to learn how to use a camera...

If you would like to find out more about Basti Ram and the work we do please visit www.bastiram.org or email info@bastiram.org or contact our UK office +44 (0) 7515 857 865

Thank you for your support.

Katherine

Basti Ram's linked orphanage in the North Indian state of Rajasthan, home to some 80+ boys aged from 4 to 18 years of age.