This is the season for awards ceremonies in Jamaica. School is out, the weather is hot and it’s time to get together and say, “Well done! You made it!” before we all go off on our separate summer excursions, here and there.
A few days ago I attended an extraordinary ceremony – not in the audience, but as a volunteer for the Jamaica National (JN) Foundation. The Olympia Gallery – a wonderful, old-fashioned building which is a combination art gallery and apartment block – was the venue for the awards ceremony for the Resolution Project (formerly Youth Zoom) which is ten years old this year. The photography project was the brainchild of the Jamaica National Building Society’s General Manager Earl Jarrett – a forward-looking man who always seems to find creative avenues for Jamaica’s development, especially through youth.
Photography is a powerful medium for advocacy. Students from 42 Jamaican high schools participating in the Resolution Project attend training workshops on camera techniques and advocacy. They then receive a digital camera and a great deal of freedom to go out and capture compelling pictures. It is competitive, but it is also a learning curve for the students and for those who guide them. Over the years, the project has deepened and broadened from simply giving young Jamaicans a way of expressing themselves, focusing on issues that concern them. Now, the photographs ask complex questions about human rights, sexuality, gender and identity issues that affect them and the communities in which they live.
The photographs are disconcertingly personal and “close to home.” The prize-winning photographers at the awards ceremony have an unflinching vision; over 100 photographs competed for the prizes and most were displayed for our viewing. One young person in particular, Jodi Morgan of Glenmuir High School, is a great photo-journalist in the making. Slender and cool, with a broad smile, Jodi does not shy away from challenging, even disturbing subjects. She won an armful of prizes, and deservedly so.
I met an enthusiastic group of girls from Grange Hill High School in rural Westmoreland. They had got up before dawn to reach Kingston on time. Sixteen-year-old Indira Jathan is very proud of her camera; she uses every part of it, she says, including the manual settings.
Now, Glenmuir High School did particularly well, winning the Best Performing School award. I spoke with Nathaniel Stewart, the head of their Photography Club, an affable gentleman who was quite proud of his protégés. He seemed modest about his own achievements, however, pointing out to me that he is merely responsible for teaching the students the technicalities. It is up to them to become good photographers. He does not, he said, advise them on what to photograph; they just go out and shoot.
Meanwhile, I got busy with dishing out sandwiches and pasta (why am I so hopeless at serving food?) while the students chatted and laughed and took selfies. Yes, the smartphone camera still has its uses. The photographs on the walls spoke for themselves. The images challenge us to think: a moody image of a homeless man in May Pen, sitting on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette; a little boy and girl, striking “sexy” poses, copying what they had seen older children and adults do; a young man’s face divided into two – with one side lighter-skinned and made-up (“The Real Me (Ze)” by Jodi Morgan).
Under each photograph is a comment by the student on the issues and the thoughts behind the photographs. Which is the real me? asks Ms. Morgan. Glenmuir High’s Carl Simpson (also an award winner) asks “Who Owns Me?” with a photograph of a girl’s back. The name of her boyfriend is tattooed across it, just above her low-cut jeans. Pursuing the theme of body image, Grange Hill High’s Petrona McDonald photographed a girl’s waist wrapped in tape measures (“String Beans“), noting girls’ obsession with small waists.
Some of the photographs are much lighter in mood; I enjoyed “Jamaica Day” by Crystal Edwards of Hampton High School, showing students performing a folk dance. The camera angle captures the energy and rhythm perfectly. “Photobomber” by Sanjae Hudson of Manchester High School – an expression of teenage exuberance in the schoolyard – made me smile.
You may have noted that all the participants are from outside the Kingston area. And I have not mentioned that a 50th Anniversary exhibit in London last year showcased many of the Resolution Project’s photographs, and that they have also been shown at the Jamaican Consulate in New York. Gone abroad, as the Jamaican saying goes!
Many congratulations are due to all those who have worked so hard – and continue to do so – on the Resolution Project. Photographer Stuart Reeves, who helped train the students and remains their mentor, received a special “thank you.” The hard-working JN Foundation General Manager Saffrey Brown and Project Officer Amashika Lorne deserve a hearty pat on the back! A trio from the Alpha Boys School Band played beautifully. Not to mention the food, lovingly served by me and other volunteers (in my case, rather clumsily). The spring rolls were to die for.
And of course, the initial vision of JNBS General Manager Earl Jarrett has blossomed over the years.
He must be proud. As I was, to bask in the students’ success.
To get involved with the Resolution Project, or to order photographs, contact: JNBS Foundation, 32 1/2 Duke Street, Kingston. Website: http://www.jnfoundation.com. Tel: 1 (876) 922-1344 Email: foundation@jnbs.com. The JN Foundation is also on Facebook and on Twitter @JNFoundation.
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