{"id":388066,"date":"2010-03-04T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2010-03-04T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=39205"},"modified":"2010-03-04T10:00:35","modified_gmt":"2010-03-04T15:00:35","slug":"a-salvadoran-snapshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/388066","title":{"rendered":"A Salvadoran snapshot"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a teenager in Iowa, Briget Ganske discovered the magic of photography through a camera she borrowed from her grandparents. Now she has infected Salvadoran youth with her photographic bug.<\/p>\n

Ganske HGSE \u201910, who is in the Arts in Education Program<\/a> at the Harvard Graduate School of Education<\/a> (HGSE), embarked with other HGSE students during their January break to El Salvador on a mission involving Learning Through Libraries<\/a> (LTL), a student group and literacy project founded by Jill Carlson \u201910, Debra Gittler \u201910, and Eleanor \u201cNell\u201d O\u2019Donnell \u201910, all from HGSE. For a week, these HGSE students worked in three schools in Caluco, El Salvador\u2019s poorest municipality, providing literacy training to local teachers and helping to establish three libraries with more than 2,000 donated books.<\/p>\n

Wanting to come up with creative ways to engage local children, whose schools had no running water or electricity, Ganske procured digital cameras to educate through storytelling and art. \u201cThese kids had never used cameras before, never taken a photograph,\u201d recalled Ganske inside the Gutman Library lobby, where the students\u2019 photographs reside in a special exhibition titled \u201cFrom Cambridge to Caluco,\u201d on view through March.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, we practiced technical aspects, like turning the cameras on,\u201d said Ganske. \u201cThey were just so excited to use this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

LTL forged a partnership with art students from the Escuela de Comunicac\u00edon M\u00f3nica Herrera in the capital city San Salvador, who then paired up with the younger students as photography mentors. Making lists of what they found important in their lives, the students explored their village and were encouraged to photograph whatever they found meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of photographing their daily life was really exciting,\u201d said Ganske. \u201cThe kids had so much fun. It was really quite inspiring to see their enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life through young eyes was poetically rendered. In photographs featuring primarily family, the students captured their subjects with inherent purity, unblemished by age or self-consciousness. In a photo by a student named Maria and titled \u201cMadre y Hermanita,\u201d a mother\u2019s outstretched arms bear an infant daughter. Kids play by the trees overlooking a river in Karla\u2019s \u201cAmigas y el Rio.\u201d In \u201cTia\u201d and \u201cAbuelo,\u201d Susana captured her aunt and grandfather in unadorned, but striking, portraits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also experimented with angles, distance, composition, and lighting,\u201d said Ganske, whose lessons were particularly evident in the playful works of a student named Victor. \u201cCerdo\u201d showcases a pig, his snout in the dirt, dappled by shadow and light. Victor\u2019s other photograph, \u201cEl Campo,\u201d displays a diffused sugarcane field with a path emerging into a bright meadow.<\/p>\n

The photographs are simultaneously being exhibited in San Salvador, where the students from Caluco traveled to attend their first art opening, which happened to be their own.<\/p>\n

What began as a kernel of an idea by Carlson, Gittler, and O\u2019Donnell \u2014 who were eating sushi when they decided they wanted to do something significant over their monthlong break \u2014 the LTL project now has lasting implications for HGSE. The students involved are hoping to implement the project as a January term course, and are currently negotiating with HGSE administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t consider ourselves to be done,\u201d said Gittler.<\/p>\n

Their sushi-fueled idea led to raising $5,000 and collecting a bevy of books, aided by students from Cambridge\u2019s Amigos School and Martin Luther King Jr. School, who gathered hundreds of texts to be sent to El Salvador. LTL purchased high-quality Spanish literature at half-off from Scholastic Books, and the material was shipped for free, thanks to TACA Airlines. Two more libraries are slated to open in Caluco before the semester\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Ganske, who is graduating in May, will most likely stay in Boston to pursue other educational and photographic opportunities with youth. She said her trip to El Salvador was humbling and inspiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids realized they too had a story to tell, and that people were interested in their lives and how they saw the world,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the power of photography: for the artist, the power of self-expression, and for the viewer, the power of connection and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"This<\/p>\n
\n

This is my father<\/p>\n

Jocelin snapped this image of her father, clad in bright red. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jocelin\"<\/p>\n
\n

Jocelin<\/p>\n

Ganske said the kids were so excited to use the cameras. She encouraged them to make a list of what they found meaningful and to photograph that.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The<\/p>\n
\n

The kid’s a natural<\/p>\n

A little girl enjoys having her photo taken by Melvin, squatting and giggling as though it were nothing new.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Melvin\"<\/p>\n
\n

Melvin<\/p>\n

Schools in Caluco have no electricity or running water. Here, Melvin poses for a photograph taken by Ganske. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"This<\/p>\n
\n

This little piggy<\/p>\n

Amid dappled shadows, a cute pig rubs his snout in the dirt in Victor’s photograph “Cerdo.” The use of light was one of the photographic lessons Ganske imparted on the students.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Portrait<\/p>\n
\n

Portrait of Victor<\/p>\n

A portrait of Victor, one of the El Salvadorian youths who were equipped with digital cameras as part of a literacy and arts project led by photographer and Harvard Graduate School of Education student Briget Ganske ’10.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Pull<\/p>\n
\n

Pull up a chair, padre<\/p>\n

Ana’s father rests against the brightly colored chairs.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ana\"<\/p>\n
\n

Ana<\/p>\n

Ana’s photographs, along with her fellow students’, are being exhibited in the capital city of San Salvador. The students traveled there to view their very first art opening, which happened to be their own.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Up<\/p>\n
\n

Up close<\/p>\n

The students had never used a camera before. Here is a self-portrait taken by Reina. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Reina,<\/p>\n
\n

Reina, smile<\/p>\n

Reina, a student in Caluco, the poorest municipality in El Salvador, smiles while having her picture taken.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Down<\/p>\n
\n

Down by the river<\/p>\n

Karla’s photo displays her friends playing between branches by the local river.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Photo slideshow:<\/span> Through the eyes of children: A Salvadoran snapshot<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Briget Ganske<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a teenager in Iowa, Briget Ganske discovered the magic of photography through a camera she borrowed from her grandparents. Now she has infected Salvadoran youth with her photographic bug. Ganske HGSE \u201910, who is in the Arts in Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), embarked with other HGSE students during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}