Between September and November 2916, APIS Institute implemented participatory

photography and video workshops for 12 to 14-year- olds. Workshop participants explored

photography and video as a means to express their views about Ljubljana. What do children’s

perspectives tell us about the city and the community we live in? What do they like and

dislike about it?

The workshop participants learnt about participatory photography and video, how to read

photographs, as well as the technical basics of photography and filming. Before we set off to

the streets with camera, we used mapping and writing down of the associations about our

environment to determine the locations where the participants spend the most of their leisure

time.

At the video workshops, participants developed the storyboard, shot the film and edited it

under the supervision of the workshop facilitators. Children made three short films, which

show their daily lives and their perspectives on their living environment.

When we view images, it is easier to imagine other people’s experiences, their being in the

world. Both photography and film represent an invitation for the dialogue, to broaden our

horizons, to discuss and exchange our worldviews.

We see the films and photographs that

emerged from the workshops as an important contribution to pay more attention to children’s

perspectives.

Among all the photographs that participants took during workshops, each chose two to three

photos that they liked the most. We prepared a photo exhibition in Trubar Literature House

and printed a photo booklet and postcards. Short films were shown at the opening of the photo

exhibition and the Three Little Wolves Film Festival.

The project was funded by Municipality of Ljubljana and supported by Trubar Literature

House, Primary School Valentin Vodnik, Canon and Sony.

Barbara Turk Niskač, Project coordinator