About this project

Photography has been an integral part of The Lower Eastside Girls Club since our founding in 1996. Photography was our first program- and it is still our first love! Although we teach many things now (too many to list- please visit our website: www.girlsclub.org) photography is always on the roster and a part of all our other programs. Girls start as young as eight years old, moving from battered “point and shoots” to medium quality digital cameras (we gave up our darkroom a few years ago). They learn to shoot, to edit, to print and to hang their work in our gallery. They learn about the bigger world of photography by visiting museums and galleries, hearing from guest lecturers at the Girls Club, and meeting and interning with professional photographers.

Our photo students have won student awards from The Professional Women Photographers Association and displayed their work in art galleries and sold photographs to art collectors. We offer photography courses during the summer, after school and on Saturday afternoons under the guidance of our Photography Programs Director and Photography Programs Instructors. We have also collaborated with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and The International Center of Photography.

Please view our girl produced video (we teach video production as well) and make your donation today. With $2500 we will be able to purchase three high end digital SLR cameras and additional memory sticks. All amounts are welcome. Twenty five $100 donations, One hundred $25 donations, Fifty $50 donations, Two hundred and fifty $10 donations…they all equal the same amount in the end. All sums gratefully accepted.

Read what our girls have to say about the impact of photography on their lives:

Fatima Haidara, age 17 For me photography has opened my eyes to a new world by letting me express my view on life. It allows me to open up to people and let them know what I am thinking. When I photograph, it’s my way of communicating. Often, when I am having a hard time I allow pictures to tell my story instead of saying how I feel.

Cristine Sanchez, age 16 When I have a camera in my hands, I feel as if I can capture everything the human eye can see and beyond. Living in a world where so many historical and incredible events are occurring as we speak, holding a camera is almost like holding power. It gives the amazing ability to capture and share what so many people haven’t been exposed to.

Justine Kayumba, age 18 When I was young, I never grew up with any pictures. Photographs are treasures, something to be kept and cherished forever. Recently, I asked my mother why there seemed to be a lack of pictures of our childhood and family. She claimed that when my family was escaping the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo she didn’t consider family portraits as important, therefore she left them all in the abandoned house and country we escaped from. My passion for photography came when I began attending the Lower Eastside Girls Club. At the time, I was the girl who loved being in front of the camera. I truly believed myself as a model and the artwork for the photographer. As time passed, I became more interested in becoming a photographer. There is sense of power about being behind a camera that just makes me feel powerful and capable of anything.