Futures Fund students show their photography skills

In May, students in The Futures Fund’s visual arts program wrapped up its second year with a photography exhibit at Ann Connelly Fine Art. It’s The Futures Fund’s mission to help these students learn professional skills in digital and visual arts and how to make a living from their work.

For the photography students, that included working with professional photographers in Baton Rouge to hone their talents and soon seek out paid work shooting events and portraits—and even having their work displayed for sale at Ann Connelly.

The eight-week program is geared toward middle and high school students and offers incentives for low-income students to participate at little or no cost.

Program managers Casey Phillips and Luke St. John McKnight say they plan to expand the eight-week program next year to include literary and performing arts, all with a focus on showing young people that they can make a decent living in creative fields.

We asked several of the photography students to share insights about some of the images they displayed at the recent exhibit. thefuturesfund.org

Robert Harris, 19
Southern University Lab School

“When I took the photo of my friend Jermaine, I was going for a peaceful feeling. I had him look towards the light and told him not to smile so I could get a more serious tone, as if he was in deep thought. I edited the photo in black and white to better draw in the viewers to see and feel the emotion as if they too are in a state of deep thought.”

Ana Victoria Isaac and Mia-Miracle Craig, 13 and 14
Glasgow Middle School

“Mia-Miracle Craig and I were sharing a camera for the first week of The Futures Fund. We stuck together, and then Mia-Miracle found the spider web. When she could not get the spider web to appear in the photo, I took the camera and snapped the picture that you see.”

Jermaine Johnson, 18
Southern University Lab School

“I walked back and forth [behind Southern University’s campus] for hours to get a picture of the sunset at the golden hour. Just before the light of day was gone, I saw this claw-shaped plant that was caressing that last bit of light, giving the picture this romantic feel.”

Diatrice Braggs, 18
Mentorship Academy

“This picture was taken my first day at The Futures Fund. Patrick Melon was teaching me about lighting and composition, and [he] told me to choose a subject. Katherine was positioned in a very beautifully lit spot. She looked stunning, so I went for it.”

Nyanza Adams, 17
Southern University Lab School

“When taking this photo, I tried to catch a story as my instructor suggested, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to capture a shadow picture. After questioning this photo day after day, I realized that it allowed the viewer to create their own story. That’s what helped me choose this photo as one of my best thus far.”

Carleton Hamilton, 16
Broadmoor High School

“In this photo, I wanted to express my passion for shoes. Shoes to me are like diamonds.”

Joia Lane, 13
McKinley Middle Magnet

“In my piece, ‘To Neverland We Go,’ I aimed to achieve a shadow in motion. My idea was for the photo to take flight or at least give the illusion of movement. I love that I appear to be floating without assistance—independent, if you will.”

Trinity Wicker, 15
Southern University Lab School

“What I was going for in this photo was to capture the focus of me instead of the essence of the camera. Recently, I’ve been working on shooting my photos through a different perspective and really tried to focus on lighting and composition.”