On a recent visit to Ditidaht, one Write to Read BC volunteer brought along a digital camera rto donate to the school. He described the camera as “an old Panasonic Lumix SLR” but adds: “It’s amazing what can be accomplished using digital technology. Computers and digital cameras have changed the world in which we live. Pretty soon everybody will be a movie maker.”
That includes the 10 high school students at Ditidaht’s community school.
The Lumix camera has a 24× zoom, a Leica glass lens, built-in image stabilization to reduce motion blur, and a memory card. It shoots great photos. It was given to the teacher for use by the high school students.
Students to make a digital diary
From January to June 2014, high school students will use the camera to take photos of their daily life: going to school, playing, at home, with friends, in the community. Students can also take photos in the woods and on the water.
The camera’s memory card can store thousands of images, and the students are encouraged to photograph everything they see. Their teacher, Eva Clarke, will select the best images and store them on a computer.
The learning objectives of this project are to:
- learn digital photography.
- learn to see and document village life.
- self-publish a book—perhaps an e-book.
A digital diary that shows what life is like in the Ditidaht village can introduce people to a place few will ever get to visit in person. By using a camera, connecting people from elsewhere to an isolated community like Ditidaht is as easy as point and shoot.
The project runs from January to June, 2014.
