U.S. photographer gives free classes for Baishizhou children

         Marco Flagg with children

Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

While many people travel during summer vacation, U.S. photographer Marco Flagg stays in Baishizhou with his Chinese friends, giving free photography classes to children in the urban village in Nanshan District.

Flagg has been organizing the Saturday-afternoon classes in Baishizhou East Community Work Station since late June, along with 10-15 Chinese volunteers. "These children's parents work hard every day and the children don't have many opportunities to be exposed to art or other types of activities. I was lucky enough to meet a group of very talented and passionate Chinese people and we all feel there's a need for us to provide the children with this type of activity," said Flagg, from New York State.

The project, titled "Baishizhou Photo Works" (童眼白石洲), aims at inspiring children to observe the community they live in. "It can be fun," said Flagg who instructs the children in Mandarin. "We can teach them about art, about expressing themselves, also about sharing their own experiences and views of the community they are living in with others."

The children don't have to bring their own cameras to the class, because the teachers provide them with cameras or mobile phones that are loaned by people who have spare ones. They now have a collection of 15 cameras and cell phones.

The Chinese volunteers come from different areas of expertise, such as architects Duan Peng and Zhang Xing, photographer and architect Zhang Chao and graphic designer Yang Lin. "We use all of our skills we are best at and strengths to make the classes as good as possible," said Flagg, who moved to Baishizhou one year ago after teaching at Shenzhen Middle School for six years.

There are about 15 children between Grades 4 and 9 in the photo class. At the first lesson held June 25, the teachers played a "treasure hunt" game with the children. Flagg brought in a few pictures he had taken at various locations in Baishizhou and students were directed to find the locations, with the help of a map drawn by a designer volunteer, and take photos there.

"They were so excited to go through their own neighborhood and find the locations. Even though they were new to photography, some of them stood there and took time to take very nice pictures," said Flagg.

"If I walk alone in Baishizhou to take pictures, everybody is a stranger to me ... Walking behind the children in the urban village, you could really get a sense of how strong the community was. I was starting to see the community through their eyes," said Flagg.

The students were assigned to take photos of family members and create a family album. "We want the students to explore many different parts of the communities, so we started with their life and then moved a bit further to let them look around the environment and also stories in the communities that the students can tell,” said Flagg. “Last but not least, we want the students to come up with their own topics that they can illustrate themselves."

Flagg and his friends have submitted an application for funding to the Nanshan District government and plan to hold regular exhibitions every two months in Baishizhou. At the end of the one-year project, they plan to do larger exhibitions in partnership with local museums.

Socially conscious, Flagg studied documentary photography at Rochester Institute of Technology and has covered released prisoners in America. He studied Chinese in Beijing and worked as a volunteer in rural Shanxi Province in 2008. In November he will teach free art education classes on weekends in Langkou village in Longhua New Area.