Akademia Pstryk
Akademia Pstryk is an art group using pinhole photography as a means of social change through empowering communities. They run workshops where participants prepare photographic cameras from everyday objects and are encouraged to follow their independent creativity.
In the midst of the credit crunch, a group of 7 to 14 year old Roma in East London are showing you don’t need expensive digital cameras to produce professional photographs.
Working with The Children’s Society and Akademia Pstryk, this group of talented young people are using pinhole photography to produce a picture book that will teach people about their culture. 1,500 copies of the book “Romano Bumburumbum” will be given away at public events, and it will also be available to download online.
Come to our launch events for the picture book
At each event, the young people who made the book will be giving away copies and speaking about their experiences making it. Get a free copy of the book, hear the amazing Romani Diamonds live and learn about pinhole photography, Roma culture and more ...
Dates
14 June
Street Exhibition - Giant Camera Obscura - Horse & Caravan - Free Books
2.00 -5.00pm
Bernie Spain Gardens, South Bank, (part of Refugee Week celebrations), SE1 9PP
20 June
Street Exhibition - Giant Camera Obscura - Horse & Caravan - Free Books
1.00 - 4.00pm
Broadway, Stratford, E15 1NN (outside Stratford shopping centre), outdoors
24 June
Romani Diamonds live - Exhibition Opening - Free Books
6pm – 9pm
The Hub, 123 Star Lane, Canning Town, E16 4PZ
28 June
Street Exhibition - Giant Camera Obscura - Horse & Caravan - Free Books
1.00pm – 4.00pm
High Street North (by junction with Barking Road), East Ham, E6 2HJ, outdoors
2 July
Roma Storytelling - Pinhole Photography - Free Books
5pm – 6.30pm
East Ham Library, Children’s Section, Newham Town Hall, High Street South, East Ham, E6 6EL
Find out how the young people did it at:
Find out more about Akademian Pstryk:
Background
An old shoe box or even a soft drink can seem to be useless items but they can be used to build a simple pinhole camera. Pinhole photography is lensless photography. A tiny hole replaces the lens. Light passes through the hole; an image is formed in the camera. Basically a pinhole camera is a box, with a tiny hole at one end and film or photographic paper at the other. Pinhole images are softer than pictures made with a lens. The images have nearly infinite depth-of-field. Wide angle images remain absolutely rectilinear.
Pinhole photography is great for kids. Akademia Pstryk uses it especially while working with children who are at high risk of different social problems. Akademia Pstryk was created by photographer Marta Kotlarska and her friends, who wanted to help children living in Centre for Homeless People Markot Bajka. They organized workshops for 46 children there. Two years after they started to work with children living in poorest district of Warsaw city (mainly Praga). In January 2006 11 children aged 7 â 15 created photographs and illustrations to the Warsaw legend "Wars and Sawa.". Local community supervisors from Akademia Pstryk organized exhibitions of these pictures in Nizio Gallery and in public spaces like Central Railway Station and in Warsaw Metro. Pictures were also shown on Billboard stands. In the summer 2006 children from Warsaw's Praga district, aided by local community supervisors from Akademia Pstryk, held workshops to teach other children how to take pictures with the once-popular camera obscura. Young fans of this simple yet inspiring method of photography showed Warsaw residents how to take pictures with this pinhole camera. Pictures from workshops were sold on auction on internet â money was used for teaching English to children from Praga district.
Copies of our magazine which supports Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month are distributed FREE each year. Demand always outstrips the amount we are were able to print. If you weren't able to see a copy of past issues you can download pdf versions or read past issues online from this website.
