COMMUNITY
Past Projects
SEEING VOICES:
COMMUNITY (UN)HEARD
In the summer of 2020 The Light Factory, in partnership with School of Good Citizenship, hosted a free virtual workshop created to celebrate the diverse and meaningful stories that make us who we are. Led by Charlotte artists Renee Cloud, de’Angelo Dia, Julio Gonzalez, and Héctor Vaca, the work created by the leading artists and workshop participants can be seen in our virtual gallery tour.
Self-Discovery
Through Photography
The Light Factory’s Self-Discovery Through Photography program used photography as a tool to help participants explore their identities, strengths, and place in the community. Through a series of photography-based exercises, participants created a personal journal that they take home upon completion of the program. SDTP was originally designed to be used with middle and high school students, but can also be used for adult groups and communities.
Prior to working with children in the Grier Heights community during the summer of 2017, TLF had Katie Hyde from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University come to Charlotte to teach a workshop to TLF staff and instructors based on the Literacy Through Photography (LTP) methodology. This is a methodology that was created by Wendy Ewald and used in Durham public schools for over 20 years. LTP increases student self-expression by incorporating visual literacy, photography, and creative writing. Afterwards—and thanks to a Reemprise Fund grant—TLF brought together diverse professionals who work with middle school and high school students for a design sprint in an effort to continue developing the SDTP program. With Faster Glass as a facilitator, the gathered stakeholders—which included staff, local teachers, and thought leaders—worked together to identify and prototype additional activities.
The results of the LTP workshop and the design sprint were a series of photography-based exercises that also incorporated writing and critical thinking skills within the participant’s “Photo Journal.” With the guidance of an instructor—and with photography as a means, not an end—the hope is that students will improve their self-confidence and explore their role in the Charlotte community through these various exercises. SDTP was successfully piloted in Freedom Schools in the summer of 2019.
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JOSH MOSS
Vice Versa
Vice Versa focused on providing opportunities for local artists, promoting artistic collaboration, and presenting work that engages various Charlotte communities. By combining photography with another art form, two collaborators created work that was presented in a one-night pop-up experience that took place at Free Range Brewery in NoDa. The program encouraged experimentation and innovation between the two collaborative artists, and included a conversation between the artists and a Q&A with the audience.
LITERACY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Thanks to a Unite Charlotte grant and a CrossRoads Corporation partnership, the first LTP/TLF program took place in 2017 at the Grier Heights Community Center. The students were provided cameras to document their lives around themes related to family, friends, and community.
BEYOND THE FRAME
Beyond the Frame was a year-long program graciously funded by Wells Fargo. The aim of the program was to help participants achieve their goals of artistic growth and help them expand their technical breadth, all while creating a tight-knit community of female photographers in the process.
WE ARE CLT
In anticipation of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, students were inspired to use photography to represent the Charlotte community in an extremely personal and honest way. Students shot everyone from their family members to the people they thought were marginalized in our community. Portraits were featured in The Light Factory’s gallery and on digital billboards all around Center City.
VANISHING POINT
For this North Carolina-centric photography project, students from Olympic and Vance High Schools boarded a bus for an unforgettable journey across the state. Ultimately they created memorable pieces, all while making new friends in Currituck and Columbus Counties.
MY FAMILY, OUR STORIES
Using photography and film, students from high schools in the Charlotte area told their singular stories of family and immigration in this annual project. Participating schools included Vance, South Mecklenburg, East Mecklenburg, West Mecklenburg, and Hopewell High Schools.
SELF IMAGE
Through creating conceptual photographs and stop motion animations, students explored their own sense of identity, as well as the stereotypes they encounter on a daily basis.
EARTH EXCHANGE
The Light Factory empowered students to create compelling photographic art and poetry about the environment. During this artistic journey they tested water quality, saw a landfill, and worked together as a team.
CUE THE SUN
Students from the Behailu Academy after-school program were The Light Factory’s hosts for the summer. The students collaborated to design a large-scale mural made up of tiny cyanotype squares, as well as larger murals with the students as subjects in the print.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
In 2007, 36 Charlotte students traveled to New Orleans to document the Hurricane Katrina reconstruction effort with their cameras. By surveying the destruction and interviewing survivors, they were able to shape their own thoughts and feelings about the disaster.
