Winton Library – Visual Poetry Jam – Southland – (27 February 2023)

The workshop was held at the Winton Library. The library collaborated with us to organise the local high school’s art class to attend. However, on the day I was scheduled for the workshop, there was a tragedy and loss of life that impacted the school. Several students were off due to the shock, and several who were booked in were out due to COVID-19 as well.
In the end, we had five students attend and spend the day with us learning visual storytelling. The weather was lovely, and we were able to do a walking tour of the city in the park across from the library. We learned about how better to use our cell phone cameras and free editing software. The students were mostly interested in learning how to pose for the camera, so we did some work on getting the best angles of people you are working with. Gritty, our Irish doodle model, also joined us to help teach animal photography.
The students that did attend were quite enthusiastic and paired off to answer the challenges. They were grateful for the creative extension of their learning and said they wished that they could have more days of it. We offered them the opportunity to continue on with Click Happy online program.

Support provided by
Southland District Council
Southland Creative Communities
New Zealand Lotteries