brothers

I found this picture when looking through all the photos I took from last trip in Anapra.

Finally, I scanned all the films this morning. I am going to edit those images taken by kids tonight. I am really amazed by the way they look at their families.

the other side of the fence is another world -Part Three

Finally, I have some time to work on the photos from the last trip to Juárez.

I found a cheaper price to process film at Costco which is $2 each roll, comparing to $6 at Walgreen, it is much better. The next a few days, I will scan all the photos taken by the children and post them on the blog. But I will probably cancel the plan of going to Juárez this weekend, since I'm sick.

The reason I chose to do the project in Anapra, Juárez: 1. it is just by the fence of the U.S and Mexico; 2, the people are really poor and friendly there; 3, the children I met at the Amigos en Cristo community center are very smart and creative.

I really enjoy visiting every family in Anapra, taking photos of the family. My Spanish is not very good, but I have the have best teachers in the world-- the kids. And sometimes, I feel that going to a place without speaking the language very well, I have to try different ways to communicate with them. Everything is based on trust.

Frontier Restaurant's 40th Anniversary

I made this video for Albuquerque local famous Frontier Restaurant's 40th Anniversary.

An essay by a homeless student

When I was at Noon Day Center last Saturday, a homeless guy asked me to do him a favor which is to type his essay down and send to the professor. He is a homeless student.

Because of the cold weather, schools were closed from Thursday to Sunday last week.

I don't know if I will meet him again, if I do, I would like to go into his life and write/photograph his life.

Open publication - Free publishing - More new mexico

the other side of the fence is another world -Part Two

On the other side of the fence is another world

Last Thursday, I drove five hours from Albuquerque, NM to Juárez, México by myself. This is the first time I went to Juárez alone. After crossing the border, I started getting a little bit nervous. I didn't speak Spanish very well and I was at this place that supposed to be very dangerous.

When I arrived at the community center Amigos en Cristo, I saw the kids, all the anxious was gone. The local artist 'Bandidos" was giving the children an art history quiz. My friend Pastor Misael Lorea introduced me to all the kids and told them that I will teach a photography class on Friday.

Before I left for the trip, I started reading Wendy Ewald's books which are really helpful for my project. The ways of teaching children photography are different from how I learned it.

Adults have more knowledge, in another case they have more restrictions which prevent them from being creative.

I was also reading the book Ways of Seeing by John Berger.

He said, "The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe."

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In the next post, I will talk about the photo class I taught.

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Children at Bandido's art history class in Amigos en Cristo community center on Jan. 27, 2011.

Homeless/Houseless

UNM closes for two days due to the bad weather. Since I've been to Minnesota last year, this is not that bad for me. But people in New Mexico think it is terrible.

I went on an assignment about the shelters opening for homeless people today.

The things I saw there makes me really sad.

Before I left the Noon Day Ministries, an 18-year-old boy asked me if I would like to hear his story.I said yes. But because of the deadline, I had to leave early.

I told him that I will be back there tomorrow again to do a story on him.

He agrees.

I feel sorry for his life, especially he is that young. For me, as a young college journalist, there is only certain things I can do to help him, but I really hope he will have a better life in the future.

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I will have a follow up story.

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Below is the photo I took today.

Justin Beatwright kisses his girlfriend Jenn Janet at the Noon Day Ministries Wednesday night.