How I See It — My Place
Lawndale
Group Photo:
Left to Right: Martha Elizarraraz, librarian Melissa McCollum, Valerie Carrascosa, Guillermo Diaz, Ulisses Carrascosa, Adrian Gutierrez, Rida Harmeen, Ayesha Syed, and Sana Syed
Photographer Miles Scott
Local Historian James Osborne
Photographer Ulisses Carrascosa, 11 years old
Ulisses Carrascosa
Photographer Adrian Gutierrez, 16 years old
Exhibit
Student Photographer
Exhibit Program
Student Photographer
Behind the Scenes
I knew the photo workshop was off to a good start when I overheard one student say, “It’s better than school” during our first walk around town. Not better than Disneyland, but I’ll take it.
The group enjoyed taking photographs more than talking about photography or editing images in the library. They gained confidence as the weeks passed, and began venturing off sidewalks, bending low, climbing high, and shooting thousands of frames in order to capture interesting angles and content.
Rida Harmeen
Photographer Sana Syed, 13 years old
Despite blurry photos, overuse of Photoshop, and a broken camera, the group worked hard to create a thoughtful digital exhibit, soundtrack, and program in time for the dedication of the new Lawndale Library.
The students’ exhibit “Lawndale—The Shape We’re In” showcased images depicting the form, character, and condition of their community. Accompanying text pointed out the value of paying attention to natural and man-made shapes in the landscape, an appreciation of the diversity of their neighborhoods, and the complexity of transformation as they mourn lost buildings and businesses at the same time as welcoming new structures. They wrote, “Our hope is that we remain observant and involved in the life of our city.”
Guillermo Diaz, Adrian Gutierrez, and Ulisses
Carrascosa
Photographer Miles Scott
More than 800 people passed through the exhibit during tours of the new library. I’ve never been prouder of a group of teenagers as I watched them talk about their photos and city with politicians, teachers, neighbors, friends, and strangers. I believe the exhibit served as a prompt to the hundreds of people streaming through the library for the first time that the library is part of Lawndale and Lawndale is a part of them.
Left to Right: Rida Harmeen, Ayesha Syed, Sana
Syed, Guillermo Diaz, Adrian Gutierrez, Ulisses Carrascosa, Valerie Carrascosa,
and Martha Elizarraraz
Photographer Jessica Medrano
The group continues to meet two Saturdays of every month at the Lawndale Library. We talk, eat snacks, play video games, and take pictures.
— Mellisa McCollum, Project Director
