Since he first picked up a digicam in 2001, Jean-Jacques Ngandu says he is saved the concentrate on taking pictures of life within the Britannia Woods/Ritchie Avenue neighborhood the place he grew up.
However he needs to inform tales that are not mirrored in information headlines.
“In case you search for the Britannia neighborhood on-line, you’d assume it is simply chaos within the neighborhood on a regular basis. However in the event you’re from the neighborhood you realize it is not like that. It is a few of your greatest instances in life,” mentioned the 26-year-old Ngandu.
He is a part of a brand new exhibit this weekend, that includes 4 photographers who solid a joyful lens on Ritchie Avenue. It is being held on the Britannia Woods Group Home, and dubbed the “Home Exhibition.”
Ngandu mentioned he pursued a profession as knowledgeable photographer thanks for the encouragement from employees at Britannia Woods Group Home — the place he would go every day to seize a lunch.
Now, he needs to ask the remainder of town to return see the pictures and see what life is like in that neighborhood.
“We’re not harmful,” mentioned Ngandu. “Folks shouldn’t be scared to go to the neighborhood.”
The occasion takes place Saturday on the Britannia Woods Group Home, and showcases the work of artists who grew up within the neighborhood.
Concentrate on Woodroffe
In case you journey east on Carling Avenue, you will discover even youthful photographers creating their abilities at Woodroffe Excessive College because of a brand new program led by yearbook instructor Curtis Perry.
He says he started studying about images throughout the pandemic and realized a few of his college students had been severe about sharpening their abilities.
The group deliberate to show their work for the primary time on the close by Ron Kolbus heart this Could, with a fundraiser in partnership with the Ottawa Artwork Gallery and College for Photographic Arts: Ottawa. The derecho storm final month pressured a postponement till the autumn.
“The images that they’ve taken are the manifestation … of their very own tales and journeys,” mentioned Taylor Benjamin, Woodroffe’s commencement coach for Black college students who will emcee the occasion.
“The outcomes are implausible. … You’ll be able to see college students who’ve by no means picked up a digicam of their life other than the digicam on their telephone, and [they] made an try at creating a chunk of artwork and had been profitable.”
Various the scholars mentioned they plan to pursue images after commencement, together with Grade 12 pupil Ali Nassar, who says this system has helped him see the facility of a photograph.
“I want to present others how I view the world round me. I can all the time see the brilliant aspect, irrespective of how dangerous issues are,” mentioned Nassar.
Grade 11 pupil Shiny Wasingya, who plans to pursue images at Algonquin Faculty, mentioned images has turn into his means of speaking his ideas, emotions and experiences with the broader world.
“Considered one of my hopes for images is that I can get others to really feel the identical means I do … within the second,” he mentioned.
“To me, each time I can get behind a digicam I really feel as if it is a step ahead in what/who I am making an attempt to be.”
