Exhibit features young immigrants’ work

Focus on Youth puts cameras in their hands

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Jan 19, 2010, Updated Jan 19, 2010

“Saida’s Portrait” is an enhanced digital photograph by Marie Louis.

Contributed art

ADVERTISEMENTS

Every picture tells a story, but what about the story behind the picture-taker?

That’s where Focus on Youth comes in.

Founded seven years ago, the Portland-based nonprofit has worked with young refugees and immigrants ages 14 through 20 from all over the world, according to Donna Lee Holmes, director. Most are low-income teenagers, a number have fled violence in their homelands, several live in America without their families, and 90 percent are people of color.

“Many are recent immigrants with limited English skills,” she says. “Students who come to our program find a place where they are encouraged, nurtured and inspired so they can succeed in school and in their lives.”

Focus on Youth offers free photography classes to young people who meet with volunteer professional photographers working on a variety of projects. Classes are held five days a week for three months throughout the school year in the Focus on Youth Studio, 1028 S.E. Water Ave., Portland, and students participate in location shoots around the city while earning high school credits.

Out of Africa

Two Focus on Youth photographers from Africa were on hand to watch the Gresham Art Committee install its latest exhibit, “Color Explosion,” Jan. 15 at City Hall. The exhibit features the photographs of three Focus on Youth students, including Nesma Boturus, 20, who left Egypt three years ago.

“I came to America for an education, a good life and a good job,” she says.

Married with two children, Boturus attends Portland International Community School, where she learned about Focus on Youth. Her photograph of a colorful fall foliage scene from Northwest Portland is featured in the Gresham exhibit.

“I like taking pictures for myself and my children,” she says.

Meanwhile, Moses Johnson, 16, has lived in America for almost five years and also attends the international school. His family fled war-torn Liberia before coming to America. He noted he lived a much harder life back home than in America.

“I used to put firewood on my head and carry it,” he says. “When I was a kid, I did hard work.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>