Amongst SKIP´s projects this year has been a photography workshop and competition with 12 secondary students from the SKIP programme. This project has recently culminated in an exhibition (click to see photos of the exhibition) in the centre of Trujillo and the eventual announcement of an overall winner. This workshop is part of a competition sponsored by the EVS (European Voluntary Service) programme in conjunction with one of SKIP´s partner organisations based in the UK, Everything´s Possible. The project, which started in April, was designed to give 12 students the opportunity to express themselves through photography and make a statement about the world they live in. For 12 weeks each Saturday morning in the SKIP school, the students received photography classes from a qualified and experienced instructor. Here they learned about different methodologies of picture taking including, perspective and lighting. The theme of the project was to explore dreams and reality so the young people can express their hopes for the future and think about the reality of their situation.

The competition itself was an opportunity for the students to work as a team, not only throughout the workshops but also towards the collective goals of putting on the exhibition itself. This also included taking pictures that can be used to produce merchandise, in turn raising awareness and funds for SKIP. This second goal is to be realised through the production of the new SKIP calendar which shall be comprised of a selection of the photos taken by the students.

The project also gives us the opportunity to send the winning student to a conference in Uruguay involving the NGOs from Latin America and Europe who are also partaking in the project. The student´s photographs were judged by Alice Vega Salas who is a photographer and runs a photography school in Lima (click here to see a selection of the students photos). After assessing the photos Alice announced the winner on Saturday as Jhefferson Yupànqui Robles. He will now make the trip to Urguay in October which will be a fantastic opportunity for him to meet other young photographers from around Latin America and Europe and participate in workshops to hone his photograph skills.

This photograph project has been a great opportunity for SKIP and has supported our development model that empowers individuals to take control of their own circumstances. It has been a great opportunity for young people to learn about photography, learn how to take pictures, feel pride in their achievements, and develop self-confidence. Learning about photography has also helped the students to think critically about the world around them and open their eyes to possible employment opportunities, which may previously have seemed unrealistic.