The Project

In early 2016, Caritas Germany in Tajikiskan approached me with the idea of running a photography workshop for adolescents at the Zumrad Youth Center in Dushanbe. The idea was to teach basic photography skills to five adolescents in order to enable them to express themselves in a creative manner. We hoped it would help them to become more assertive and develop a more positive outlook for their futures. At the end, we planned an exhibition of ten images each around the theme of "My Life".
Over the next eight weeks, I came to know five extraordinary young Tajiks with unique talents and gifts. There is a singer, an artist, a young woman who is going to a high school in the US for a year. There is a young woman overcoming a crippling disease, a young man who is taking his life in both hands by helping other kids. I came to respect and love those young people. And the photography?

Did they ever run with it.