The Story of How and Why THOAW began:
On a trip to Cape Town in December 2012 I visited eKhaya eKasi, a non-profit organization in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa with Uthando South Africa, a fair trade tour company. After a conversation with Lulama, the director, on the rooftop of the Centre, I wanted to find a way to help as she expressed the desire to get the word out and the need for more tourists and business. After thinking about for a few months I came up with an idea to teach participants how to take photos with an iPhone and how to use and engage on social media so that they could promote their products and the centre, and tell their stories via social media.
In November 2013, I returned to eKhaya eKasi with 11 used iPhones that were donated by donors in the USA, Canada, and the UK and offered 11 days of workshops in photography and social media as well as basic computers. With the help of fiscal donors from around the world through crowdfunding, I was able to raise enough money to pay for meals during the workshops, transportation for the group, data, 2 used iPhones 4s, and a wifi hotspot for the centre amongst other things. At the end of the workshop, each of the 9 participants received 200 postcards of one of their images to sell in the on-site art boutique at the centre. In May 2014, I returned to the Centre again with more iPhones and more workshops. The postcards are still sold at the Centre today (2020) as one of their top income generators.
THOAW project is a passion project by Canadian photographer, Andrea Rees. She donates all her time and all travel expenses are self-funded. One hundred percent of all donations and proceeds from postcard sales in 2013 & 2014 have gone back into THOAW.
Why Mobile Photography?
On a milestone birthday trip to Europe in 2011, Andrea captured images with an iPhone 4 as her DSLR camera remained in the hotel room. After seeing her images from the trip printed in a coffee table book, it was then that she realized the capabilities of an iPhone and has promoted the iPhone as a viable camera ever since. So much can be accomplished with one mobile device from taking the photo to post-processing (editing), to sharing on social media to printing photographic products through apps. The learning curve is much shorter compared to other cameras and allows the mobile photographer to focus on capturing images and telling the story rather than thinking of the technical details. It is a camera that can always be with you and is an affordable option, especially as she sought to acquire donated used iPhones as iPhone users tend to upgrade regularly.
While economically developed communities have been progressing along with the technology advances, much of the less economically developed communities have not had the same access and therefore have not had the same opportunities. As she began to earn income from mobile photography, she asked herself, “what if I could teach iPhone photography to women impacted by poverty, could they earn some income too?”
If you are interested in implementing a women’s mobile photography program in your community or non-profit organization, please connect.