Got an iPhone and want to learn how to make the most of its capacity as an art and photography tool?

Come spend a Saturday afternoon with two professional photographers and iPhone-photography experts, Kate Hailey and Zorn Taylor. You’ll learn a ton, have a great time, and feel good knowing that your workshop fees are going to support Youth in Focus. No experience necessary!

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN AND DO:
Photography 101: Composition and Philosophies
Image Creation: On-location shooting & photography mentoring
Photo Processing: Preview all the best apps out there and 
learn app stacking and beyond
Printing: How to get your photos out of your iPhone
Sharing: Social Media and Networking options
Goodies: iPhoneography resources

Date: Saturday 3/10/12
Time: 10am – 3pm (bring your lunch)
Sliding scale: $49-$79*
Ages: 13 and up; Adults welcome!
Location: Youth in Focus, 2100 24th Ave S, Suite 310, Seattle 98144
Space is limited & pre-registration required! To reserve your spot in the class, please contact Kat at katv[at]youthinfocus[dot]org or (206) 407-2124.

*Funds support Youth in Focus’s free photography classes for underserved teens.

This class covers iPhone-specific instruction. iOS4 and up required; iPod Touch and iPads 
welcome! Workshops for Android and other platforms will be added to meet demand.

About your instructors:
Kate Hailey is a portrait and lifestyle photographer who enjoys the technical side of the creative process, as well as embracing old-school methodologies to bring a vintage vibe to our tech-savvy world. The photos above were created by Kate on her iPhone 4S.

Zorn Taylor has been a professional photographer for 12 years and has a degree in commercial photography. He shoots and teaches photography for a living, and teaches Beginning Digital Photography at Youth in Focus. The photos above were created by Zorn on his iPhone 4, soon to be 4S.

This exhibit was arranged and installed by Jordan, Waylon and Shelley — our amazing volunteers from the SeattleWorks Hands On Leadership program!

Let your creative prowess run wild in creating a poster that fits into the broad theme of FORCES OF NATURE. Craft a tenacious composition revealing the fierceness that is mother nature. Or maybe it is in your nature to design something all together out of this world. Either way, we want to be blown away by your entries.
The Hello Poster Show will select 16 FORCES OF NATURE entries. Those entries will be printed and exhibited at Cupcake Royale on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington in April 2012. The only cost to you is an entry fee of $5, payable via PayPal. The Hello Poster Show has been generously awarded a Sappi Ideas That Matter grant that will cover printing costs for the show. Only one entry per person is allowed. Collaborative entries are permitted and encouraged.
In addition to having their poster exhibited as part of show, the selected entrants will receive 10 prints (of 30) of their poster. The remaining 20 prints will be sold at the show and online to benefit Youth in Focus. All entries are due SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 at high noon (12pm). Entries must be submitted electronically through the form at the Hello Poster Show’s website.

Amber explains the back-story of what inspired her self-portrait: “I had just gotten out of a feminism class in school that was taught by a man who didn’t do a very good job of teaching it. This experience got me thinking a lot about gender roles in society.” During her Beginning Digital class in the spring of 2011, Amber’s entire final exhibit, including her now iconic self-portrait, focused on undoing gender stereotypes. “As a society we are still trapped by gender roles, and it’s not something that a lot of people wanna talk about or get into. It’s so deeply rooted in our society. I thought it would be interesting to show pictures of men that are still men, doing things that people would typically think of as something a woman would do.” The photos she’s referring to showed guys doing “typically feminine” things such as working at a sewing machine and preparing dinner in the kitchen. Click here to see Amber’s photos.

“With my self-portrait, I was addressing another [gendered stereotype]. Back in the day, if a woman was having emotional struggles, she wasn’t taken as seriously as a man, and people would tell women to ‘just go take a bath.’ As if when something’s happened, a bubble bath or a spa is supposed to make your problems go away, when really women’s problems can be just as great or as traumatizing as a male’s. With my self-portrait I was reclaiming that. I wanted to show that I can be powerful and be a woman. I wanted to explain that women are powerful and that all women can reclaim that message. I think of myself as a strong person in general, and I take pride in that and in my emotional strength. I have a bring-it-on type of personality; If I was having a problem, I’d be more confrontational, and I wanted to portray that in my self portrait, battling the ‘go-take-a-bath’ thing.”

Amber is an artist in many genres, including photography, drawing and poetry, and she particularly enjoyed her time at YIF. “It was interesting to see the different ways of doing photography. Usually you see a lot of older people doing art and it was nice to see people my age doing photography. A lot of the times youth have different issues that are not addressed by adults [in the art that adults make]. Also, I kind of thought of photography only one way, like portraits, and it was cool to focus on different photographic subjects and different types of photos. Plus the teachers were awesome and the class was really fun. I had Zorn and he was really cool.”

Without Youth in Focus, Amber wouldn’t have had the opportunity to access or fully delve into photographic expression. “Photography intrigued me and I wanted to learn more, but having a crappy camera does not make me want to do photography. Before YIF, I didn’t have any access to a good camera or the software. Youth in Focus gave me a way to try something new without having to worry about finances.”

If you want to support the work of Amber and other students like her, we heartily encourage you to join us on Saturday April 14th for doublexposure 2012, our annual auction!

As our bookkeeper, Lisa knows that the past few years have not been an easy time for lots of non-profits. She recently chose to donate her bookkeeping services to us for free for two months because “it was just the right thing to do.” She said, “My bill isn’t huge but every little bit helps.” While she works on the books at the YIF office, she sees kids interested, focused, and asking questions –which, to Lisa, means coming to YIF is something exciting for young people to look forward to.

Lisa wants young people to know that “it gets better.” Not all kids are successful at pulling out of hard times, but she thinks this is especially possible if they take advantage of the opportunities a place like Youth in Focus is giving them. She says, “Learn from the good things!”

On Saturday, Dec. 3rd, 6 talented Freelance students built 2 sets to create holiday memories for families from across the agencies and organizations we work with in the 2100 building. Under the guidance of long-time-YIF-teaching-artist/Freelance-Project-Manager Sherry Loeser, this year’s holiday portrait studio was a great success. Student photographers Jordan K., Kathy S., Jestoni G., Jennifer P., and Nina C. photographed over 30 families from Treehouse, Wellspring, the YMCA, YAS, YIF and Rainier Scholars. They captured wonderful moments that the families with cherish for years to come. Portraits were offered on a pay-what-you-can-up-to-$25 basis. Families received 1 8×10, 2 5×7′s, 4 wallets, and a digital photo file on cd.

One student photographer was especially excited to help families make memories. The family mentioned that they were going out for teriyaki after the shoot, so instead of cheese, she had them all smile and say “teriyaki!” She said, “It was an awesome experience to photograph these families because they were real families!” Another student commented that it was a good feeling to see families leave happy and see the relief on their faces that they’ll have a great holiday photo for this year.

The portrait studio would not have been as successful without the help of a host of adult volunteers. Thank you! We would also like to send a giant thank you to Panda Lab for a generous printing donation. Thank you, also, to Dee McQuesten of McQuesten Framing for her generous donation of 5×7 picture frames!

Written by Kat Vellos, Program Director

At the beginning of our Advanced Black & White end-of-quarter show, Kristina Block stepped to the stage and opened her speech with an apology. She apologized for not having much voice to speak with, because she had spent the afternoon in a student walkout at Garfield High School, protesting recent budget cuts. Not only did she participate in the walkout, she helped organize it. Her apology was met with raucous applause, as the crowd cheered her for taking a stand for what matters to her… something we at Youth in Focus have been proud to see her do more and more of over the last two years.

Kristina first came to Youth in Focus in January of 2009, enrolled in her first Black and White photography class. She quickly fell in love with the process of shooting and developing 35mm film, and printing her photos by hand in the darkroom. Her first teacher here, Sam Smith, describes her this way: “I met Kristina Block on the first day of winter quarter of 2009. Her energetic and charismatic presence was reverberated almost immediately by the rest of the students… the creativity and thought that Kristina brought to class was particularly inspiring to me.”

Over the next two years, Kristina completed all three levels of black and white photography classes, taking the Advanced class twice as a way to challenge herself to continue growing her photography skills.

Looking back on the Fall 2011 class, Kristina says that she got a lot of experience this past quarter. “I had such challenging pictures this quarter, I had to do SO much burning and dodging that I got a lot of darkroom experience. … I feel like this was my strongest quarter even though it was my hardest quarter. It was really challenging, but the theme and my direction on the theme were definitely my best work. I’m really proud.” The class’ theme was Struggle, and the class’ photos are on exhibit at the Douglass-Truth Library seven days a week. We highly recommend you stop by and check out the work!

When describing the reason she sticks with Youth in Focus, Kristina says, “To be perfectly honest, I suck at school. But through photography I’ve learned that as long as I know I can do it for myself, that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter if anyone likes my work, it matters that I am proud of what I produced, and that I know that I am able to do it. Youth in Focus has really helped me know how I best learn, and I know my abilities now. Sure there’s time where I’m tired and I think I don’t want to go to Youth in Focus, but the minute I get here, I wanna be here. And I don’t wanna leave.”

Kristina is eager to continue in Winter Quarter 2012, and to continue using photography as a medium to shed light on issues that are important to her. Next quarter’s Advanced Elective class will focus on social issues that matter to each of the students, and Kristina hopes to join the Occupy movement’s encampments to both tell the story of this revolution, and the personal stories of the people involved in it.

At Youth in Focus our mission is more than teaching photography, it’s helping young people know that they have a voice, and that what they have to say is important. We can think of no better way for them to demonstrate that than by using one’s voice so loud and so clear that it makes them hoarse and tired in their determined efforts to make themselves heard. And with camera in hand, they document their own transformation. Kristina has risen to this challenge and opportunity again and again. We hope that you’ll join us to celebrate Kristina and her classmates’ end-of-quarter Advanced Elective exhibit, “It Matters to Me,” on the evening of March 8th at Blink Interactive.

Each student will present on their collection of 3-6 photos on their individual exploration of the topic “Struggle” that they explored during Fall Quarter, Sept-Dec 2011.

The exhibit will be on display at Douglass-Truth Library located at the corner of 23rd and Yesler in Seattle’s Central District.

Refreshments and presentations will be held in the conference room. Presentations start at 6pm sharp.

Once again, we at Youth in Focus are calling on staff, students, parents/caregivers, volunteers, our board, and YOU to create income for Youth in Focus during our traditionally slow year-end funding period. Please help us make this important fundraiser successful by bowling with us!

The Info: 4th Annual Black and White Bowl-a-thon: Strike a Pose

When: Saturday, October 29th, 2pm – 4 pm

Where: AMF Imperial Lanes, 2101 22nd Ave S, Seattle (roughly across Rainier Ave from YIF)

Individuals and teams are invited to solicit pledges or direct gifts to support their game. Sign up in advance, or join us the day of the event. Click on these links to download PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS and SPONSOR SHEETS. There will be contests and prizes, a photo booth, and fun! For more information please call or email us.

P.S. Wear black and white!

Written by Sam Smith, Teaching Artist and Program Deputy

Way back in 2006, when I first started working at YIF, I had the pleasure of being a mentor in an Advanced Black & White elective course, called Picturing My History, in which students explored their own identities and ancestries. Prior to the start of the course, my coworkers were fiercely recruiting a young photographer, whom they spoke of legendarily, to enroll. After getting to know Jaesun and working with him in class, I quickly understood the source of the YIF staff’s tenacity.

“I first came to Youth in Focus when a friend of mine was in a class there and she invited me to her End-of-Quarter show. I immediately signed up that night. I had taken a photography class in middle school and didn’t have a place to do it once I graduated middle school. YIF gave me something to do after school and if not for that I would have been at home watching TV and falling asleep! At Youth in Focus I took as many classes as I could: Beginning B&W, Intermediate B&W, Advanced B&W and three or four Advanced Electives.”

Over the course of those many years of creativity and commitment, Jaesun compiled a very impressive portfolio of work that tells his personal story, as depicted through his interactions with, and observations of, his communities. He focused on elements of Hip Hop, comprehensively documenting several complementary aspects of the culture that he strongly identifies with. This included photographic studies of the music, dance, apparel, and visual art. His self-portraits address, with refreshingly brutal honesty, the contrast between the person society labels him as and the real Jaesun.

One challenge that Jaesun sees teens deal with is having a voice, and being able to stand up and give or receive feedback — something uniquely addressed by the role that critiques play in YIF classes. “Critique gives the people who are having their work critiqued a chance to come out of their shell, and it gives the people who are doing the critiquing a voice. And vice versa — when you present your work for critique it gives you a voice, and when you give someone feedback you have to come out of your shell.”

“As far as life skills, [my time at YIF] made me more observant in general, being better at reading people and picking up on the details in different moments. I always carry my camera with me, I notice lines, shadows, I have a photographer’s mind now. Through the Freelance Project, I got a lot of people experience, interacting with different kinds of people in different kinds of situations. Taking candid shots of people teaches you how to interact, which is a life skill too.”

As a shooter with the Freelance Project, Jaesun was commissioned by the Rainier Valley Historical Society to photograph the Hillman City neighborhood for their 50-year time capsule.  His photography will serve as a record of the neighborhood in its present-day condition for a future generation. Since departing his teenage years and taking his final class at YIF, Jaesun has been very busy, and at 21 has a resume that many teaching artists (myself included!) would be jealous of.  Currently, you can find him teaching Graffiti to the lucky students at Nova High School, as well as Mixed Media at the Pratt Fine Arts Center and the Seattle Art Museum. So if you or someone you know is a middle- or high-school aged youth, find out his schedule and enroll in one of his courses!

Jaesun’s top three passions continue to be making music, doing graffiti art and photography. His says his ultimate goal is to go to college for automobile construction and design, and later to design green sports cars.

As we were when he was a YIF student, we continue to be blown away by Jaesun’s artistic talents and his determination to be his unique self, speak his own voice and share what he knows.  And we’re really happy his friend invited him to that End of Quarter show.