Now, almost ten years later, it thrives in fourteen public schools, including a day treatment center for behaviorally and emotionally handicapped students. LTP encourages students to find their voice through photographs and written text. Photography as a medium of communication is particularly accessible to children. The students photograph scenes from their lives and then learn to develop and print the film in the school darkroom. These images become the catalyst for subsequent written investigation of self, community, family, and dreams.
Students represent themselves with photographs and words while increasing their means of expression.
Week-long summer workshops, taught by Wendy Ewald, are offered at the Durham Public School Staff Development Center for teachers whose schools are involved in the project. Artists, photographers and educators from around the country are also encouraged to attend this unique training forum. The teachers bring their new skills back to the classroom. Like their students, the teachers learn to photograph and develop their own prints and to write about those images. The training provides them with insight into the creative process as well as with s technical understanding of photography.