How I See It -- My Place Exhibit

Behind the Scenes

Orland is located in Glenn County about 60 miles north of Sacramento. Orland has a population of just over 7,000 people, 57% white, 37% Hispanic and is considered a rural, low-income area.

The group explored the area around the library which included Library Park and the downtown district. Many historical buildings and houses and the rail road tracks are located in this area.

The train tracks provided a lot of opportunities for interesting photos.

Many of the participants walked down streets they had never been down before or were exposed to buildings they had never seen or noticed. The president of the local historical society gave them information about many of the buildings and locales which the teens said they found very interesting and gave them a new perspective about the history of their town.

An art professor from CSU, Chico gave the participants information about photography techniques and composing good photos and also accompanied us on one of our walks to take photos. He returned for a later meeting to advise them on choosing photos and helped with the matting of the photos.

The participants noted that they enjoyed learning how to use the different features on the cameras and how to crop and edit the photos on the computer. They were also particularly inspired by the exploration aspect of the project. Several of them noted that they didn't usually take photos of "places or things", preferring to take pictures of their friends but now have an appreciation for landscape photography. They were also surprised by what they noticed about their town that they had previously overlooked, as one stated "It was very fun. The town has a different side to it. Walking around, I noticed places I'd never seen." They also noted that "plain objects" took on a new meaning and became something interesting, mysterious or even profound when viewed through the lens of a camera.

Linda and Lee aren't afraid of doing whatever it takes to get the shot they want.

In the beginning the participants were cautious about taking photos and tried to be very careful about getting the perfect shot but as the program progressed they began to look at things from new angles and started taking more risks with their photos. They exhibited more freedom in what they would take pictures of and how they composed those shots.

Challenges for this project included the participant's lack of knowledge of technology. They were very unfamiliar with how to download their photos to the computer and how to save to the flash drives. Most of them did not know how to create a new folder or how to find and open their saved images. Writing was also a big challenge. Many of them struggled with the creative writing aspect of the project and even felt that it was difficult just to title their photos.

The community has benefited from seeing what creative and inspired work that a group of teens could produce. Many people who viewed the exhibit exclaimed about how many places around town that they had "seen" but never really noticed or thought about before. Many exhibit goers also noted that the buildings and objects that they had disregarded in the past became beautiful and interesting when exposed in a photograph.

— Jody Meza, Project Director

How I See It — My Place

Orland

Behind the Scenes