Seven young Roma from Govanhill in Glasgow have been learning how to take photographs, exploring their homes and streets in Govanhill through the lens of their cameras.
An exhibition of their photographs opens on 3 Feb 2018 at the Tramway in Glasgow.
Since November 2017 the young Roma have been learning both documentary photography to explore their environment and studio portrait photography to create images of themselves and each other, at creative workshops run by photographer Robin Mitchell of the Glasgow-based social enterprise media co-op.
The Young Roma Photography project is supported by Community Renewal in Govanhill and Friends of Romano Lav, funded by the People’s Health Trust.
Isac Milosiu, 17, said: “I took a photograph of the place where I learned to play pool. It was where I first made friends with Scottish people. One of them gave me a pool cue.”
Karolina Olszewska, 14, added: “People are friendly in Govanhill in some ways, but not in other ways. School is a great place to make connections across social divides.”
Robin Mitchell, photography tutor from media co-op said: “This project has been enormous fun for me, a professional photographer. While I’ve taught the young Roma technical and artistic skills about composition, light, and focus - I have learned from them about their lives and opinions, and seen their talents bloom.”
