PENTAX Sponsors Photography Project

I’m so! so! so! thrilled to announce the introduction of a photography project that is going to put cameras in my kids hands thanks to the generous support of PENTAX and TakeGreatPictures.com. 5 point and shoot digitals cameras will be loaned to us for a 2-month fully funded photography workshop where a select group of girls from my orphanage will be able to photograph in and around Santiago de Chile.

Originally, I wanted to create a documentary project about the girls to raise awareness and to support the children and the volunteer outreach program while growing as a photographer. But as my role as a volunteer became more defined to include confidante, comforter, big sister, playmate, teacher, and mentor, my role as a photographer strengthened to become an analyst, humanitarian, and storyteller. I will continue taking pictures because it’s my happiness, but it is evident from the children’s behavior that they also need some kind of special attention, a creative outlet to focus their energy on with good intentions, too.

Since the girls love being in front of my camera as well as behind it, taking my photo project to another level by conducting a photo workshop with them was an idea in the back of my mind. Seeing as how they have little interest, motivation, and solid direction in school, they are stubborn when it comes to learning math, language, and reading. But give them a camera and their eyes open wide and engage, eager to click away at everything that calls their attention. The idea is that this motivation can transfer to provide an incentive to connect with other educational areas, too, encouraging them to learn the basic building blocks of a primary education like reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as more advanced skills like working with computers, being exposed to technology, and expanding communication, analytical, and self-expression skills.

My orphanage is under funded and understaffed and the adults that work there are often preoccupied with juggling the needs of the institution, families, and kids, so they lack the time to expose the girls to the parts of life that mom and dad or their teachers should be teaching. With so much to document and so much to learn from the process of making pictures, I presented a project proposal to bring cameras and the art of photography to the children’s hands. By letting the girls play the role of photographer, I thought that they could get lost in a rewarding activity as their stories can be told from their own point of view, capturing what life is like for them and what life is like here in Chile.

I know that the kids will run with the opportunity to explore other ways to express themselves by having the chance to be interested in something that can make them see and look at themselves and the world differently. I’m really grateful for throwing the idea out there and receiving such a positive response to start. The first few round should be an interesting adventure. I’m particularly excited to see how the girls react and what kind of work they will produce!

NY Exhibition - Part II

The event sounded like it was a successful evening. VE raised $4000, part of which came from the sale of 10 prints I sent to be displayed. In the end, I couldn’t get the necessary permission to show all of the photos I originally anticipated, but now that the show is over, I am planning to put together a formal presentation to the government organization in charge of my orphanage to discuss various issues pertaining to the subject of photography – for example, what permission VE needs to use photos on their website and what room I have to share my work as a professional.

I never imagined photographing kids would be such a delicate subject when I first got accepted as a volunteer. I remember being nervous about asking the people in charge of VE if I could do a documentary project in the first place and they immediately supported me with enthusiasm whereas the real barrier was something I hadn’t recognized – the people in charge of the children. Children are the princes and princesses of Chile. The people’s world here revolves around their kids and it’s evident in the affection parents show in public towards their babies, the advertisements companies put up to appeal to moms and dads to sell products, and just how everyone seems to marry and start families really young. So it’s no wonder that the people in charge of my girls are also protecting then to the nth degree. I can understand their point of view.

The last few weeks have been a test of patience, perseverance, and professionalism. Throughout all the lessons in this process, it was the most comforting to feel the volunteers support and ultimately realize that although the time passed and I didn’t get something I really wanted, I now know what I have to do for the next time. As volunteers finish their time here in Chile and return to their countries, they become part of a global network, sharing their stories in words and pictures, and reaching out internationally to raise awareness about the work we’re doing down here. People who have recently returned to Belgium and the states talk about having expositions while talking about their experiences as volunteers, and I am hopeful to know that there are opportunities to send my work to all the corners of the world to further illustrate just what our work looks like.

In the end, it is important to me to do things in the right order as a professional and I have to respect the ways of the world of the country I am working in although they may conflict with my own personal and cultural views. Maybe all these reasons are why things worked out the way they did. And so I have to continue because there’s so much that would be left undone if I stopped right now.

Chirsitne Mladic’s photos from the NY show.

NY Exhibition - Part I

As I look back at previous blog entries, I’m so excited to realize how long it’s been that I’ve been talking about photographing compared to actually seeing the results from what I set out to do. This Thursday night, on May 18th, could be the first unveiling of my work as Volunarios de la Esperanza is having a reunion/informational/fundraising event in New York City at the Children’s Museum of Art. I printed and framed 40 photographs to be displayed at the event and sent them off with the director of VE last month. For my first show, I wish I could be there to hang it, to greet guests, to hear everyone’s reactions, and celebrate, but at the same time I knew I had to just stay put in Santiago, let the work represent what’s going on down here, and let it represent me. 20 photos are a portrait series of my girls from the orphanage showing them in their bedrooms. The other half is a compilation of portraits of children that VE serves. The idea was that the proceeds from the work could be split between VE and my hogar, and that the money for my hogar will be used to construct a new roof over the outdoor laundry room of one of the houses since the rainy winter season is approaching. However, although the photos are en route to NYC, I’m not sure if the photos will be displayed at this point.

These past few weeks have been spent learning many lessons during the documentary process and they all stem from the topic of permission. The government organization, SENAME: The National Service of Minors, that funds my orphanage has asked me to not show the work because protecting the privacy of the minors is their number one concern. It’s a sensitive issue in Chile for many reasons, namely because in the past someone entered a hogar, took compromising photos of children, and loaded them on a pedophile’s website. Now the country has imposed a strict set of laws to protect children “vulnerable in their rights.” This seems to be the most delicate issue that was explained to me by my director and the social assistant when I approached them with the work. They stressed that they were just following orders when they relayed the message that I wasn’t supposed to show any of my work, and if I did, they could be seen as incompetent in their jobs and consequently fired. Whoa! Slow down. I’m just volunteering here. And they’re just pictures. And we’re just working in a tiny little town in the world that hardly anyone’s ever heard of and… It’s amazing how a camera and the prints it produces can cause such controversy at this level. I know this is not a big deal in the world of photography, but because it’s my work and my time and has become my interest, it is important. It is important for me to support VE and help my hogar and this is the way I know how to do it. Orphanages all over the world have been documented before. People barely know Chile exists let alone where it is or what the capital is. Can’t we just take it down a notch to think about the good showing a tasteful set of prints at an art exhibition can possible produce?

Looking at SENAME’s website, there are up-close shots of Chilean kids with the words sexual exploitation of infants, physical mistreatment, sexual abuse, negligence, and abandonment beside the photos if not directly on them. Never mind that smiling happy babies, cute and cleaned up are shown. Nothing about the photos really portrays a real glimpse of what it’s like to live in an orphanage, the rage and mental frustration the kids have from what they’ve experienced, or the lack of adult attention, and proper behavioral and educational instructions that makes them so different from others. Nevertheless, are the portraits there to infer these things, as straight forward and point and shoot as they are and if so, isn’t this almost more inappropriate? Someone allowed those photographs to be used and the organization has built a website with the help of imagery that essentially is doing what the organization does not want photographs to do: expose the kids and turn them into poster children. Although nobody at SENAME has even seen my photos, I was told through the adults at my work that I wasn’t to show them under any circumstances. Even an art exhibit is too cautious and risky.

With so much of what is happening with respect to this issue I am constantly told that this is the Chilean way. When you need something, you call on the person that can give you what you want. But the scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours mentality is from a different world. And it irritates me when the staff I’ve been working with for the past few months sends me the message that we’re not so much working together as much as just working. Last month I was told by the director that I was a valuable resource to have at the hogar because I was a native English speaker and was asked to start tutoring the older girls consistently. Great. Can you direct me with someone above you to speak with concerning the permission of photos? The social assistant asked me the other day if I knew of a Volunteer who could teach his niece English and if I knew about the school system in Lousiana because his brothers family is moving there for a few years and they want to ensure a good education for his 7 year old daughter. Yes, I can find a volunteer who can teach your niece English and here’s my opinion of the American school system from my experience. Can you help me out with my photos? The psychologist recently informed me that she would be traveling to California with her daughter next year and asked if I would accompany her to fill out her VISA application, part of which is in English. Aside from saying hello and how are you in the mornings, we haven’t ever talked, but she was the one that told me that the staff can’t do anything else besides ask for permission for what it is I am looking for. In the end, the workers in charge of the hogar come to do their job and they do or don’t do things to keep their job. Maybe they choose not to have a voice with this issue and they really could. But even as I write this to work it out in my own mind, I feel that it just has to be taken to someone higher up. And now it’s become bigger than just fixing a plastic roof. It’s about the power of photography, cultural differences, hierarchies of decision making, children’s protection, so much is involved and for me it’s worth fighting for.

Jedrick, a local photographer who specializes in nude portraiture here, was nice enough to introduce me to the professional printing places downtown after which he introduced me to La Piojera, a dive bar that serves Terremotos (aka: earthquakes) -- white wine with a scoop of pineapple ice cream that is meant to be sipped slowly, but hits you hard. Especially at 11 a.m. Getting my work printed and framed in Santiago was a new experience in comparison to doing things back on 23rd street in the photo district. Just waiting in line, I watched the pushy, antsy types impatiently work for the attention of the few employees behind the counter and it kind of reminded me of a photographer type I hadn’t been exposed to in a while. I had to laugh just seeing this type I never paid attention to before and I certainly don’t see myself like that kind of photographer, but there I was in line with the rest of them. And here I am now impatiently ranting, trying to get someone’s attention too.