SomosFoto

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Synopsis

In 2001 and 2002 the University of Miami’s School of Communication produced photojournalism workshops in Miami for Latin American photographers. The success of these seminars, both from the standpoint of the photographers and the faculty, was overwhelming. We initiated a foundation of international exchange that served to provide greater understanding and interaction between Latin American and U.S. professionals in the visual field.

The University of Miami School of Communication continued this exchange by using a one-time grant from the University to create the first SOMOSFOTO photographic workshop. That workshop, which took place during the week of July 16 through July 22, 2005 in Quito, Ecuador, was a huge success. It provided an opportunity for twenty-seven photographers and photo-editors from nine different Latin America nations to work with fifteen U.S. professionals that included David Griffin from National Geographic Magazine, Carol Guzy of the Washington Post, Luis Rios of the Miami Herald and Mike Davis formerly an editor with National Geographic Magazine and the White House and currently at the Oregonian as well as other top photographers and editors.
The workshop tuition that included the cost of the hotel room was kept at a minimum, and scholarships were liberally distributed. This is a key issue for Latin American photographers as many must pay for their own expenses.

In March 2008 the Knight Center for International Media made possible the second Somosfoto workshop held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. During the weeklong experience the twenty eight Latin American photographers and photo editors told visual stories that embraced life in all of its joys and tragedies. Some photographers chose to document various aspects of everyday life in Santo Domingo, shop keepers, artists, restaurant workers, family members and those forced to live on the streets. Others, told stories of people coping with debilitating illnesses and injuries and one photographer explored a community of Haitians who immigrated seeking safer and more prosperous lives. Several of these stories now appear on the newly created website www.nuestramirada.org created by Knight Center guest faculty member, Pablo Corral Vega.

The photographers who participated in Somosfoto returned home with renewed enthusiasm, honed skills and a commitment to tell visual stories about issues important to the peoples and cultures of Latin America.

Several of the North American editors and photographers, such as international award-winning photographer Maggie Steber and National Geographic photographers Randy Olson and Melissa Farlow, who participated in Somosfoto as faculty continue to give feedback to the Latin American participants.