Learning for Change is the latest photography project by Kigali Centre for Photography (KCFP), a local photography hub. Under the project, local freelance documentary photographer Jacques Nkinzingabo, the founder of KCFP, will travel to more than 20 districts in the country, and train at least 200 aspiring young photographers through workshops and exhibitions. The project’s first stop was Nyabihu District, Western Province, early this week, where Nkinzingabo worked with 35 budding photographers. “It’s a group of kids who really want to learn something and understand what photography is all about. Soon they’ll be finishing high school and so they need someone to guide them,” Nkinzingabo says, adding that, on a positive note, at least 30 per cent of participants were girls. According to the photographer, Learning for Change started off as a small idea two years ago, with photography trainings organised for street kids in Kigali. The training lasted 10 months, and culminated in a joint exhibition at the Goethe Institut in Kigali, and another in Germany. The project took a break last year due to funding challenges but, thanks to a small grant from the African International Club, Kigali chapter, is now back, bigger and better. Next week, the project heads to Kamonyi District, Southern Province. Nkinzingabo conducts the first Learning for Change photography class in Nyabihu District on Monday. In Kamonyi, Nkinzingabo plans to set up another photography space like the Kigali Center for Photography. “We feel that people who are not living in Kigali also need these opportunities and spaces. They need to be visible. Back in school we had kids who would draw a person’s face on the desk. Where are they now? It is such talent that we are looking to reach,” Nkinzingabo says. Participants are grouped under two age groups; 12 to 16, and 17 to 23. However, there is also a plan to incorporate children below 12 into the project. “When a child is 12, it is the time to show them that something really exists, so they need that opportunity. But we’re also thinking of working with younger kids in the future. For these, we’ll work with their parents to help teach them how to use the cameras. Both parents and kids will work on projects of their choice. Those projects will be social issues around them or something they like, or people and places they like. This is because the first support mechanism for a child is the parents,” Nkinzingabo says. The trainees will work with small digital cameras that were donated by different individuals and organisations for the purpose of the project. “We settled for small cameras to show them that it’s not about how fancy your camera is. You can even use your phone camera. We give them the cameras for four days each, to photograph a project that they like, or if they can’t think of a project, they’ll photograph neighbours in the spaces they like, and those neighbours will explain why they like those spaces, and what those spaces mean to them,” he says. The workshops and exhibitions will end in the Home Stay Exhibition Program, where each participant will exhibit their photography works in their family homes. “We want to connect families as a way of peace building in communities. Each family will have an exhibition in their homes and it will be open to the neighbours just to come and have discussions about issues surrounding them and about the future of their kids,” Nkinzingabo says. The family exhibitions are scheduled for beginning of November. In December, when the Kigali Centre for Photography celebrates a year of existence, the trainees will showcase some of their work alongside those of established photographers affiliated to the centre. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
