Tumpane Public School

COOL AWESOME OUTDOORS
A Photography Project

Self-titled by the participants themselves, COOL AWESOME OUTDOORS is a photography project that was designed to encourage the creative self-expression and critical thinking of kids who had little to no prior photography experience. The project allowed 18 grade four/five students aged nine to ten to document life experiences, explore ideas and feelings while creating a community portrait of Tumpane Public School and the surrounding Jane – Wilson area.

The Process

During May and June 2010, participants worked with a professional photography teaching artist for eight two-hour in-class sessions where they collectively learned about and engaged in photography fundamentals, outdoor digital photo shoots and basic photo editing. When away from school participants were provided disposable film cameras and encouraged to capture their life at home, its people, places and moments. The photo exhibit is one of the results of this process.

Photo Exhibit at Tumpane Public School

From the eye-catching COOL AWESOME OUTDOORS font style and its colouring, to the hand painted frames and their placement, the participants collaboratively determined the formation of the entire exhibit design in a way that highlights what they considered to be their top 36 digital and traditional film photographs.

Photo Slideshow

The photo slideshow of COOL AWESOME OUTDOORS with a larger body of work consisting of nearly 180 photographs set to music can be viewed by clicking play on the video below.

Project Participants

Special thanks to the participants in the project: Alexandra, Justin, Ainsley, Alyssa, Cassandra, Celina, Jaleel, Jet’aime, Justin, Kelly, Kemuel, Marcel, Mariam, Mersies, Elenilson, Oreoluwa, Tashawna and Tierra, as well as Tumpane PS teaching staff: Ms. Henderson, project facilitator: John Beebe and youth arts assistant: Fitzroy Facey.

Partners

COOL AWESOME OUTDOORS is a partnership project of City of Toronto, and Arts for Children and Youth.