IN THE NEWS.TESITMONIALS OF OUR IMPACT.
Youths Encounter Life Lessons Through the Lens
January 09, 2015 by Bill Giduz
Davidson students are providing some local young people with an opportunity to look beyond their troubles by looking through the lens of a camera in a community engagement program called YouthMAP (Youth Marketing and Photography).
Davidson student mentors meet weekly with about a dozen young participants from the Ada Jenkins Community Center After School Program and Barium Springs Home for Children. The mentors lead student photographers through exercises and adventures in photography, such as portraiture, composition, still life, location shoots, painting with light and photo editing.
Youth see world through a different lens
May 08, 2014 by Carrie C. Causey
Youth from Barium Springs Home For Children and Ada Jenkins Center are seeing the world in a different perspective thanks to a Davidson College initiative.
College students Aly Dove and Max Feinstein, with the help of other student volunteers, started Youth Marketing and Photography (YouthMAP) last fall to teach underprivileged youth about photography. The college hosted a gala for their budding photographers May 1 to show off, discuss, and, in some cases, sell their work.
“Photography is instantaneous, it’s accessible and it gives a new way to look at the world,” Dove said of why she chose to teach her hobby. “They can take a photo and critique it. Affirmation helps build confidence.”
YouthMAP celebrates its mission - teaching youth through photography
May 02, 2014 by Jon Cox
Students from the Ada Jenkins Center andBarium Springs Home for Children showed off their photos to an appreciative crowd at Davidson College’s Belk Visual Arts Center at Thursday night’s YouthMAP Spring Gala. The Gala, the second in YouthMAP’s short but successful history, is the climax of a four-month mentoring program that aims to empower disadvantaged students through photography.
For many of these students, who ranged in age from 12 to 17, it was the first opportunity to show how much they had learned about photography in four months.
Cooking, Eating, Creativity Win Out at Ideas of March Competition
April 01, 2014 by Robert Abare
Two organizations founded by Davidson students, Cooking Classes at Ada Jenkins and YouthMAP, received awards of $5,000 and $4,500 at the recent "Ideas of March" competition for projects in community and social outreach. Hosted by the college's Center for Civic Engagement, the Ideas of March annually invites Davidson students to present innovative ideas for social change, and a panel of judges selects winners. This year, six teams participated in the competition.
A New Lens: YouthMAP photography program breaks down barriers
April 1, 2014 by Natalie Blundell
YouthMAP does not aim to drastically change the lives of these kids, nor do they intend to steer these young adults toward a career in photography. As Cunningham explains, YouthMAP encapsulates the creative element of education, as well as the rare opportunity to see the world through a different lens. Gibson explains, “We try to teach kids how to look at things differently. They can’t change what’s happened in their pasts but they are in total control of how to frame their futures. We’re extremely thankful to YouthMAP for their work with our kids, not just the time they took out of their busy schedules, but for the passion and care they showed our kids.”
Davidson students help develop love of photography at Barium Springs
January 3, 2014 by Kim Smith
In December, YouthMAP held a gala at the Belk Visual Arts Center on campus in their honor. It featured framed, poster-sized versions of these budding photographers' best works, displayed for all to see.
“I had a lot of people admiring my photos,” said Juliet, 19, a Barium Springs resident whose photographs were on display. “I felt loved, like a celebrity,” Juliet said. “I had a lot of people that cared."
YouthMAP Gala Will Showcase Photo Skills of Barium Springs Residents
December 05, 2013 by Robert Abare
YouthMAP founder Aly Dove '16 conceived the idea for the organization based on experiences during mission trips to Guatemala and Togo in 2010 and 2012. Dove witnessed visitors taking many pictures of local children, though the children were never permitted to hold the camera themselves.
Dove, however, allowed some of the children to use her camera and take their own photographs. "When I showed them the pictures they took I noticed a positive change in their demeanor," she explained. "They were proud of their work."
Dove's YouthMAP cofounders Max Feinstein '16, Catherine Wu '16 and Jessica Gumucio '16 wanted to provide underprivileged youth in North Carolina with the same sort of positive experience. They submitted a proposal for YouthMAP to the "Ideas of March" competition hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement, won the competition and received a $2,000 grant to purchase equipment. Through volunteer initiatives and relationships developed by faculty, staff and students, Davidson College has longstanding close ties to the Barium Springs Home for Children. The facility, founded in 1883 as the Presbyterian Orphans Home, provides group homes, therapeutic foster care and adoption programs. It was a natural fit for the YouthMAP program.
