St. Louis children emulate famous photographers

"Self-Portrait," by Charles Brown 631 KB .jpg

WHAT
"Point-of-View: Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club and OASIS," a photography exhibit

WHERE & WHEN (two locations)
362 Social Sciences & Business Building
University of Missouri-St. Louis
One University Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63121
April 15 through June 30
Hours: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday

Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club
2901 N. Grand Ave., 2nd floor mezzanine
St. Louis, MO 63107
April 22 through June 30
Hours: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays

SPONSOR
Public Policy Research Center at UMSL

COST
Free and open to the public

INFO
http://pprc.umsl.edu/

DETAILS
"Point-of-View: Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club and OASIS" is the latest exhibit in the Public Policy Research Center Photography Project at UMSL. The series features photos taken by people who live and work in urban areas. In this case, the photos were taken by children from HHBGC. The organization works with children (ages 6 to 18) to help them realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring adults.

Photo project participants were assisted by volunteers from OASIS, a national nonprofit founded in St. Louis with the mission to give older adults the opportunity to develop personal growth through meaningful service to the community.

Ron Laboray, instructor for the PPRC Photo Project, worked with the group of 10-to-12-year-old children from the HHBGC. Laboray first focused his lessons on basic portraiture, composition and lighting techniques before introducing the participants to the work of Robert Frank and Aaron Siskind. The two renowned American photographers are known for their intriguing photos of everyday objects or day-to-day life.

Lobray and the OASIS volunteers then took the children on walks in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood surrounding HHBGC where the project participants took photos emulating Frank's seminal black-and-white shots and Siskind's creative close-up abstractions.

Opening receptions will begin at noon April 15 at UMSL and at 5:30 p.m. April 22 at the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club.

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