Above, students identify areas surrounding their school they consider to be safe (blue), unsafe (orange), scary (red), beautiful (pink) and ugly (green). Click here to enlarge the map.
By Jena Olson
The AjA Project runs photography-based educational programs for refugee and at-risk youth in San Diego. AjA ran an after-school workshop at Monroe Clark Middle School as a part of Speak City Heights, an initiative aimed at amplifying the voices of residents in one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods. Youth turned their camera lens outward to examine their neighborhood and how physical features such as canyons, alleys and street lighting shape their perceptions of safety and well-being.
For the above mapping project, students identified areas in the area that were beautiful, ugly, scary, safe and unsafe. They looked at the patterns and discussed why those areas felt safe, unsafe, etc. They then photographed those areas.
Hear the students discuss their feelings about their surrounding environment below.