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Telling a Story through a Different Lens
Ahmad Alahmad, one of 18 students who participated in the week-long photography workshop Photo: Ian Willms
Toronto, 17 March, 2017 - The Ismaili Centre, Toronto was bustling with activity from 13- 17 March as a group of newly arrived students participated in a photography workshop. The initiative, a partnership between the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and the Ismaili Council for Canada, was led by Laurence Butet-Roch and Ian Willms of Boreal Collective, an internationally-based group of freelance photographers and supported by volunteer staff at the Centre.
The students, ranging in age from 12 to 19, used photography and applied narrative storytelling techniques to share their perspectives on home. An exhibition of selected photographs created over the course of the five-day workshop was displayed at the Ismaili Centre, Toronto from 6 May – 30 June.
CONTACT is the largest photography event in the world, and a premiere cultural experience in Canada, with over 1500 artists in 200 exhibitions and happenings throughout May and June. The 2017 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival will celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. This workshop for young refugees living in the Greater Toronto Area is part of the Festival’s core programming for 2017.
In 2016, the Ismaili Council for Canada partnered with CONTACT for the "Our Images, Our Stories, Our Futures" exhibition at the Ismaili Centre.
