In late March, Mangyan students from Baclayan, Stairway scholars from San Antonio Island, and the Stairway kids presented an impressive photo-voice exhibit about their lives and their communities. The exhibit called Look Out Loud, a project founded by Meghan Harris, a former Stairway volunteer, and Maggie Cissel. The objective of the Look Out Loud project is to give voice to those who have no voice through photography and storytelling. Meghan and Maggie have traveled with the Look Out Loud project to India, the Philippines and recently, Guatemala.
Meghan and Maggie have already worked with 30 participants and collected more than 5,000 photographs during their stay in Stairway for the past two months! Please check out their blog and Facebook page.
LOOK OUT LOUD Blog: http://www.lookoutloudproject.com/index.html
LOOK OUT LOUD FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LookOutLoud?fref=ts
FROM MAGGIE’S BLOG
SURPRISE! Our Photostory Exhibition date was changed to March 27th! Due to some scheduling conflicts, we were asked to push the date three days up. So, yesterday was the day! Luckily, we were prepared for this sort of thing and so a mere 20 hours after being asked to change the date, we were surrounded by our participants, their photos, families and fans in awe of all of the inspiring work of these kids.
It was truly spectacular.
We had 75 8×10 photographs, a running slideshow of their photos, a great playlist, and over 100 people circulating the room, looking, reading and learning. At the end of the exhibition, our participants got up in front of the whole crowd and presented their photostories. For a group of kids who, at the start of our program wilted at the thought of just talking in front of us, it was inspiring to see them command the audience with their confidence and pride for their photographs.
Another perk of having the exhibit yesterday was that a group of students from the Taejon Christian International School in Korea had just arrived to Stairway. They were great attendees and offered support and excitement for Look Out Loud’s participants.
Good news for all of you is that you don’t have to wait another day to see all of these amazing stories! Our new website, www.lookoutloudproject.com is now up and running and ready for you all to bear witness to our kids’ wonderful works. Just click here to view the stories.
So now, here Meg and I sit feeling a bit like we’ve been spit out of a whirlpool, scratching our heads asking each other, did that really just happen? The only way I can think to describe the process is like preparing for a final exam except this exam is way more fun and satisfying than any test I’ve ever taken. Also, it’s in real life– no classrooms here, unless we agree that the world is a classroom. Then we’ve just entered a whole different conversation entirely. To put it simply though, the whole experience was awesome. There really is nothing quite like seeing all of these JPEGs turn into 8×10 masterpieces, or better yet, the photographer’s reactions. The glow of their smiles when first laying eyes on their photos on display. You can see the blazing fire that burns deep inside them–a fire that has lit up corridors filled of ideas and possibilities, flaring upon seeing their peers looking at their exhibit.
Nothing beats it.
Now, just add Meg and I running around like sweaty messes filming the whole thing and its like you were there! There’s no need to spend the money on airfare.
All that’s left for you all to do now is go to our Exhibition Page and take a look! We would love to hear any questions or comments you may have so feel free to comment on the post, our Facebook, or send us an email at[email protected]
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