‘Nice to meet you!’ Revealing community gems through photography

Inspired by the popular series Humans of New York, we organized a workshop where participants document a library scene or subject and have the choice of conducting a short interview with their subject or writing a description of the scene. You can view the presentation here and the handout here.

One of our most popular classes, we had students ranging from complete novices to more practiced photographers. One of our participants runs a section on her blog Jittery Cook called Jittery Jabber where she posted her photos and interviews of the day. While some of the shorter work by other participants were uploaded to Twitter and can be viewed here. One of our participants conducted longer interviews and both her experience and photos are posted below.

Of her experience Marcia said

For me, an unexpected benefit of the photo workshop was that my vision (inwardly speaking) improved as I […] shot pictures fully knowing why I was reaching for this one and not for that one…..
Thanks to you for your good work!

The question that I had in mind is: What Are You Doing on This First Beautiful Weekend in Montreal in 2015

I found seven people who allowed me to get their photo and talk with them and five who would not….

  • Amita at the Atwater Library told me, ’I go to the library mainly to borrow books and read the newspapers to find out what’s going on in the world…food for the soul.’ Often she visits the library in Brossard close to her home.

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  • Mitchel is the Atwater Library gardener who told me “I just moved from one part of Montreal to Mile End in a student house with five others, a brand new whole house.” Clearly he loves his new home and will be moving in all weekend, unpacking.

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  • Maureen was “on her way to the Jazz Festival with a friend who reached out to her on this Friday because she lost her husband three weeks ago.” She said she felt “If someone reaches out, the least she can do is reach back.”

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  • I found the four members of a family on the corner of Atwater and St-Catherine this sunny Friday in Montreal waiting for a walk signal. One daughter in a two tone hijab and blue dress would not stand for the photo with her sister Naira and brother Anas, but she was radiant as her mother Qaisai said she is out enjoying her three children. Usually she’s cooking, cleaning, and shopping or going to work in a sewing factory. Naira “works for a federal public service in Ottawa and comes to Montreal every two weeks to visit.” Anas was just “taking a break from cleaning” and seemed glad to be out and about with his kin.

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  • Evelyne and Toto were on the corner of St-Catherine and the east corner of the park being renovated;   she said she will take her two boys to play in Westmount Park” but they haven’t been to the Jazz Festival at all.

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  • David received my introduction saying, “Enchante” and explained in English he was waiting for a friend “to walk the La Chine Canal.” He does free lance writing for papers such as La Press, but was born on the south shore and hasn’t been to the Jazz Festival this year because of “all the road blocks and construction on the bridges and streets this year.”

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  • Finn and Gordon, who are part of the Humans in New York workshop are “Doing something that’s a surprise for Finn’s brother’s 11th birthday and Finn is excited to find out what the surprise is all about. She’s 14 and goes to Royal West. He’s retired and was looking after his mom and dad (90 and 95) till his mom recently passed away. “We’re going to visit our other grandmother on July 5th in Ottawa,” Finn told me.

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What I Want To Do, And What I Need To, Aren’t Always Separate Entities

My experience at the Atwater Library has been completely undefinable. I struggle to put into words how much the experience has meant to me, and the amazing time that I have had working here over the past six weeks. I have learnt something new everyday and I have spent it doing what I love.

I am a big believer that anyone can learn how to use technology. Most people already have some of the necessary skills without realizing it. We are working to give everyone the same tools, and by doing so help bridging the technological divide. However, everyone has something to learn, and technology moves at such a breathtaking speed that there is no one who can say that they don’t have anything left to learn.

I had the opportunity to speak on CBC to promote the Creative Digital Media Workshop Series. While on air I spoke about the importance of Digital Citizenship, and how, just like in the real world, we have to teach people how to properly conduct themselves online. The importance of online communities is undeniable. In a society that is putting more and more of their personal thoughts and lives on the internet it is necessary to teach how to respect the person on the other side of the screen. We can form connections in a millisecond, forming relationships with people across the world, but we have to remember that there are people on the other side of the computer. Not just binaries.

One of the ways to do this is to teach Digital Citizenship. For every workshop we had over the past few weeks we opened the dialogue for ethical photo taking and sharing. By creating a fun medium to explore these topics in we were able to open the discussion in a way that everyone was comfortable exploring.

Not only is the ethical side of Digital Literacy important but so are the sheer amount of possibilities available to those who use computers. Creatively they can suit almost anyone’s tastes. Allowing for development in projects that focus on poetry, photography and video, music, art, and literature anyone is able to spice up their work in a few hours. Digital art is often forgiving enough that beginners are also comfortable with making mistakes and trying new things.

Through Digital Citizenship we are working to build confidence, both online and off, and digitally is a great place to do so—There are many online communities that foster positivity and kindness.

We have had a diverse amount of people who showed up to all our workshops.  We had people who were comfortable using their computers and cameras, and people who had never touched one in their lives. From children to seniors, everyone explored different forms of expressing themselves!

Leaving after six weeks, I can’t help but relate my experience to my present self as an Honours English and Creative Student; as well as my future self, the author and Professor I aspire to be. There are very few jobs at my current level that could give me the experience I need for furthering my education and my future career. I want to spend my life doing what I love and the only way I can do that is by practicing, and building my practical knowledge. The Atwater Library has given me that opportunity. Rather then committing myself to a career path I didn’t know for certain I would enjoy, I can commit myself to it knowing that I will love it. Interning at the library has shown me how much can be accomplished by hard work, and how rewarding it is to teach someone something new. Just like in the workshops where our goal was to learn skills that can be applied in daily life or to future projects, I have learnt skills that I will be able to use for myself!