EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

The photographers of Through Each Others Eyes™ have made it their mission to help and to inspire young people since the organization was founded in 1988. The group has sponsored workshops for high school photo students, has exhibited pictures taken by six-grade students in two countries comparing the lives they lead, and has given presentations to elementary, middle, and high school classrooms to show young people how photography can help them understand and appreciate cultures different from their own.

Through Each Others Eyes™, with financial support from Visual Color and Great Clips, also helps at-risk young people by taking individual and group portraits at the Pappas Schools both in Phoenix and Tempe.

In 2005 Through Each Others Eyes™, with financial support from Arizona Public Service, created the “People of Japan” exhibit for students in the Casa Grande public school system. The project consisted of a 44-print exhibition (held in the Casa Grande Public Library) with pictures by 15 TEOE photographers documenting many aspects of  Japanese life and culture. In addition, TEOE produced a 150-slide PowerPoint with the pictures, comments by the photographers, and information on Japan that was given to all Casa Grande teachers. Elementary teachers were also given a workbook of activities for students in their classrooms.

More than 100 Casa Grande teachers brought their students to the city library during the four weeks the exhibit was on display, and teachers continue to use the CD and workbooks to help their students learn about Japanese life.  This exhibit is currently being expanded for its continued use in public and private schools.

In 2006, under the sponsorship of Wells Fargo Bank and Tempe Camera, Through Each Others Eyes™ photographers gave disposable cameras to 6th Grade classes at Lowell Elementary School in Phoenix and IMARC Elementary School in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Coordinated by photographers Paul O’Neill in Phoenix and Edith Reyes Freaner in Hermosillo, students were taught how to document their lives in pictures, and the photographers of TEOE then worked with the students to select their best pictures for the exhibit. First displayed at the Wells Fargo Bank main gallery in April, 2006, the exhibit attracted press attention both in Phoenix and Hermosillo for the creativity of the student work and for the messages their pictures conveyed.

After a four-week exhibit in Phoenix, the pictures went to the Hermosillo school for an on-campus exhibit, and then to El Palacio Municipal in Hermosillo for a two-week public showing. Work on a similar project, involving an Arizona and a Japanese school, is currently underway.

Prior to these most recent projects, the photographers of Through Each Others Eyes™ had a successful series of seminars for high school student photographers given at the Arizona State Fair. In 1999, under the sponsorship of Kodak, TEOE coordinated a two-week “virtual” exhibit with students at Central High School in Phoenix and Kotogaoka High School in Himeji, Japan, posting on-line images on Kodak’s website each day. Kodak called the event “The world’s first on-line student exhibition.”

Through Each Others Eyes™ has a committee to coordinate its educational projects, and teachers are encouraged to contact our organization for additional information. We also encourage teachers to give us their ideas on how we can help young people appreciate the cultural diversity of our world.