this project is intended to enable people from the community of the Vazanteiros, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, to tell their story for the fist time. little is already known about them and most of this knowledge come from outsiders, such as scholars and all sorts of researchers, a knowledge that might not be very detached from their own interests. In this project we may teach this people to operate a photo camera, as well as basic exposure and composition notions, in order to get them to tell us, trough photography, what they really are, and what good theirs way of living does to the environment.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Manga
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The vazanteiros live along the shores and in the islands of the great river São Francisco. they were born from a mixture of fugitive slaves and abolitionists and indians that established themselves in that area in order to hide from persecution. there they exchanged cultures, got married, had children and, finally, welded one incredible culture founded on the coexistence with nature and guided by the river's seasonality.
Their very name come from one of these seasons, the “vazante”, witch is the time when the waters from the flood return to the main course of the river, leaving behind calm lagoons fulfilled with breeding fish and huge areas of wetlands, for them to farm from tomatoes and cassavas to incredibly sweet water melons.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
João Henrique Alves de Lima Abreu – http://joaohenriquefoto.wix.com/jhabreufotografia
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
the content to be created will focus on their living, since the sunrise with the first boat put on water, till after the sunset, when they all finally gather. to register the steps of their everyday, listening to their storys and encouraging them to produce fine photography without loosing their very own sensibility.
The content created will consist on a photo expo, and the creation of a public website trough witch we intend to bring those stories to the general knownledge.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
Our organization has already a strong feedback from similar communities as the Vazanteiros, as well as from syndicates and NGOs.
Some of these are listed here:
http://www.caa.org.br/ (Alternative Agriculture Center)
http://strporteirinha.blogspot.com.br/ (Rural Laborers syndicate from Porteirinha)
http://www.funarte.gov.br/ (national arts funding)
http://asaminas.blogspot.com.br/ (semi-arid articulation)
http://www.psiupoetico.com.br/ (national poetry hall)
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We intend to train eight participants, giving them full attention and support. we will be following them wherever their everyday leads so we can register with loyalty their mores.
along this everyday registration, we will support their photography apprenticeship and teach them.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
we will focus on the teaching of the full manual mode of an digital camera, so they learn exactly how to get the perfect exposure, as well as how to compose the intended scene.
We already have one pentax K-30, 50mm, 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses for using on this project, but we still need, at least two more cameras with full manual mode, that can be even bridge cameras and water protection for all this equipment
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
The workshop will be held, mostly, in the field, following the people on their everyday to-dos
We already have one pentax K-30, 50mm, 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses for using on this project, but we still need, at least two more cameras with full manual mode, that can be even bridge cameras and water protection for all this equipment.
The edition of the photos will be held by the professional assigned to this mission.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
We have already contacted them, due to one other project we took part with a syndicate that have really solid connections with the vazanteiros, as well as mutual interests of environmental and self preservation. we also contacted them during an photographic expedition along the river São Francisco.
Besides this, we, in this region, are part of a solid web of partnerships dedicated to the same purposes.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The challenge expected is to hold the expo in places where, usually, vazanteiros are not well understanded or wellcomed. but we are certain that more than one culture can get along trough intense conversation and good negotiation.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
the success of the project depends on the ability of the photographer and his pupils to translate the hart of the people in focus. we will aim to sensibilize squires and politicians to practically and legally defend this people trough the imaging speeches in each photo.
We will lounch website and a facebook page in order to evaluate people adhesion by numbers, as well as keep a continuous countact with pro-active people that like to keep cultures preserved.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
we would go to the community for four weeks during the after flood period, in order to give full attention to this iconic season for that people.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
The budget will be divided in two parts:
$ 500,00 – Transportation and food for two people to the community during the four weeks
$ 1.800,00 – Equipment acquisition such as two cameras Nikon collpix and three waterproof camera protectors.
$ 200,00 – for the prints.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
helping us trough promotion to accomplish our bigger and mais mission: to preserve the local traditional culture.
Contact name
Associação Baru Cultural
Organization
Associação Baru Cultural
