Introduction
This internet site was developed to preserve a historical record of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project sourced from the original website.
Information archived on this site includes the program’s history as a grassroots initiative; its mission statement, organizational structure, and activities; related media coverage; the creative projects developed by the participants; and records of gallery and museum exhibits of that work. Although the site is now stored on an archive space, it is still accessible to those who might be interested in exploring unique and creative details about the program’s varied projects and its evolution over time.
The work speaks for itself, and viewers are encouraged to explore the archived group galleries, which were created during the timeframe of the program’s existence, and consider the participants’ lived experiences that are clearly depicted in the photographs and compositions published herein. This original website can be viewed at the following link.
To this day, the photography produced by the artists of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project continues to be commemorated and displayed in galleries and venues throughout New Orleans, Louisiana, and the United States, bringing awareness to the valuable and important perspectives of the young participants who were navigating a new and different life in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Origin Story
In August of 2005, Joanna Rosenthal, Cat Malovic, and Chelsea Haaland—three friends enrolled in Tulane’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program—were studying abroad and volunteering at the Louisiana Himalaya Association (LHA) with the Tibetan refugee community in Dharamshala, India.
During their tenure there, news of a Category 5 hurricane that was heading towards New Orleans began trickling in through emails and news reports. Once it became clear that the storm would make landfall in Louisiana, the trio often found themselves gathering around a rickety old television, watching the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the only news source available in the remote mountain town. Feelings of dismay and helplessness began to grow within the group members as the unprecedented events unfolded.
The moment the storm struck New Orleans, Chelsea, Joanna, and Cat joined other MSW students, Tulane professors, and Tibetan friends to participate in a puja (a traditional prayer ritual), which was led by a group of Tibetan monks for the benefit of those who had remained in New Orleans. Looking back, the seeds of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project were germinating within the aromatic smoke of the incense and sacred chanting of that ceremony.
Over the weeks that followed, as the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, followed by Hurricane Rita, continued to unfold, the Tulane group would endure undulating waves of shock, grief, and disbelief. During this surreal time, Chelsea, Cat, and Joanna resolved to return home to Louisiana to provide assistance by supporting the rebuilding of the city and by promoting emotional healing among the survivors within post-Katrina, New Orleans.
This small cohort of students and Tulane professors were among the first residents to come back to New Orleans. Because the group had been stationed in India when the school semester was already underway, they could not be reassigned to schools outside of New Orleans that were hosting students from the city. It was this twist of fate that sent Chelsea, Joanna, and Cat back to New Orleans to complete their MSW practicum requirements.
Thus, under the guidance of adjunct professor Neil Guidry (who had also led the trip to India), they began working with various grassroots initiatives that were being established to assist returning residents throughout the city.
The Organization and Team Members
One of the grassroots organizations where Chelsea, Joanna, and Cat began volunteering, under Neil Guidry’s supervision, was the Common Ground Collective, a group that was the first to be established in the Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. The area looked like a washed-out, post-apocalyptic ghost town until one family with four young siblings returned to the Ninth Ward.
This struggling family caught the attention of Chelsea, Cat, and Joanna, as the students witnessed firsthand how the children, especially, were isolated and devastated by the effects of the hurricanes on their beloved neighborhood.
That’s when the trio turned their practicum focus into brainstorming possible strategies that would help them, and they landed on the idea of giving disposable cameras to the children so they could personally capture their surroundings as a therapeutic approach to processing the recent traumatic events.
After gaining the parents’ permission, the kids cautiously accepted the cameras from the three students. At first, there was hesitation from the children and their parents, but then Joanna, Cat, and Chelsea processed and printed their photographs and persisted in meeting regularly with them on their family’s porch where they would look at the pictures together and talk and write about them.
As the junior photographers started to open up through informal discussions and by journaling about the subject matter, trust slowly began to build—and the kids seemed to be resonating with the project.
Eventually, weekly meetings were consistently held with the young participants to encourage them to communicate about their thoughts and emotions as they artistically engaged with their community. Thus, The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was born October 2005.
The project continued to thrive and grow within the Ninth Ward and then quickly expanded to three other previously flooded neighborhoods, including the St. Bernard Parish, the Sixth Ward, and the Seventh Ward.
Just as before, these mini-chapters followed the same model of meeting on porches to encourage the kids to explore their feelings about their circumstances through photography and writing, while trust was building between participants and their families, and other people within the neighborhood. Ultimately, this artistic approach filled a much-needed gap of extending assistance to young people returning home to flooded neighborhoods in the community.
To actively contribute to the organization, Joanna shared her experience in writing, photography, social work, and mixed media art, while Cat infused it with her passion for photography and using art therapeutically to promote healing. Their shared interests naturally intersected with an appreciation for the arts, involvement in grassroots initiatives, narrative approaches to therapy, and an application of artistic endeavors to address social justice issues.
As a result, these individuals created a basic curriculum that incorporated community engagement and innovatively merged diverse spaces. Furthermore, this unique model centered around the person-in-environment concept, a key social-work methodology and founding principle of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project.
The New Orleans Kid Camera Project would not have been possible without the many collaborators and teachers who joined the program. With this additional creative input, the curriculum for the program and the projects that were developed by the neighborhood participants expanded exponentially. Two waves of volunteer teachers, who were instrumental in elevating the project with new skills and resources, stand out, and their contributions are detailed in the paragraphs that follow.
Tara Malik and Ariya Martin
The first of these, who made a profound contribution to the project, was Tara Malik and Ariya Martin. These friends and co-workers came to New Orleans to clean out houses in the 9th ward as part of a 10-day effort sponsored by Code Pink.
Just days before Tara and Ariya were scheduled to return to their homes in Rochester, New York, they were talking to a volunteer in the 9th ward at the Common Ground Collective, who just happened to mention The New Orleans Kid Camera Project. Coincidentally, both Tara and Ariya had a background in fine art photography, and they wanted to meet Cat to talk about the program.
That introduction took place at a coffee shop in the Bywater neighborhood, and when they connected, magic happened! Plans were quickly made for Tara and Ariya to go home to New York and begin fundraising, so they could later return as volunteer teaching instructors for The New Orleans Kid Camera Project.
Tara and Ariya followed through as planned, and after soliciting funding and equipment from resources in Rochester, New York, they joined the program in New Orleans in March of 2006.
When they arrived, they brought with them equipment like single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras and specialized know-how about photography, image-editing software, and gallery/museum exhibitions, and they were prepared to share this with both students and staff in the project.
In an article published by the Rochester Institute of Technology on February 26, 2006, Ariya Martin talked about her interest in joining the project:
“We’ve seen how photography can be an important outlet,” says Martin. “When we were in New Orleans and found out about The New Orleans Camera Project, we wanted to get involved. Taking photographs will not only give the children something to do, but it’s also a skill they can build upon.”
Because of their expertise, Tara and Ariya were able to elevate the program’s curriculum, while simultaneously teaching the participants how to display their work in creative, meaningful, and innovative presentations in galleries and museums. This empowered the young artists with confidence as they developed leadership and speaking skills when expressing their ideas and discussing their artwork with interested audiences at exhibits.
Neil Guidry
Neil Guidry deserves a special thank you for extending incredible support to The New Orleans Kid Camera Project. Multiple members of the group were able to stay at his rental properties while they were volunteering, and this project would not have been possible without his inspiration to think outside the box and work from the ground up.
He is a master networker, and because of him, The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was infused with its unique grassroots, in-the-streets philosophy of serendipitous engagement—a community-based approach that was integral to the success of the project and laid the groundwork for the program to thrive and succeed in the unique challenges that were pervasive in the environment of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Eric Carr
Eric Carr, a web designer, joined the team January 2006, and as a key contributor, he developed the original website for The New Orleans Kid Camera Project. Because of his technical expertise, the kids’ artwork from the project was uploaded and displayed online for the world to see, and therefore, the program participants’ voices were heard internationally.
Furthermore, he shared his media arts knowledge, including videography and computer editing, to enhance the vocational and leadership potential of the participants, and they found this component to be very engaging.
Continued growth...
Simultaneously, several other key staff members engaged in essential roles in sustaining, growing, and furthering its goals.
For example, Ibby Caputo, a journalist, was instrumental in grant writing for the nonprofit and developed the published materials for the original website.
Robert Malovic, Cat’s husband, also volunteered in various capacities when needed. For example, he played a key role in scouting new neighborhoods where the project could expand. During these excursions, he often looked on in wonder as Cat jumped out of the truck to tell kids returning to their flooded neighborhoods about the project and for those interestred, arranging meetings with their parents to request permission for their participation. A video highlighting one of these communities—Gert Town—can be viewed below and features animation taught by Courtney Egan.
In 2007, several of the program leaders Joanna, Cat, Eric, Ariya, and Tara co-founded the related 501c3 organization, One Bird, together. This arts-related umbrella entity partners with youth-based arts initiatives and the communities to create unique programs for children, using photography, writing, mixed media, and emerging technologies, to assist them in sharing their stories. With the establishment of this entity, the nonprofit sister organization: One Bird, allowed The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, to then be able to begin receiving tax-deductible gifts to support their mission.
Together, this core team—Joanna, Cat, Ariya, Tara, and Eric— co-directed the New Orleans Kid Camera Project from March 2006 to September 2007 by teaching, curating, innovating, networking, and exhibiting for the program, and this communal synergy brought the project sucess. During this time weekly meetings were held in various following flooded neighborhoods throughout the city: Ninth Ward, St. Bernard Parish, Sixth Ward, Seventh Ward, Twelfth Ward, Gert Town, New Orleans East, and Gentilly. Additionally, a neighborhood group was started in the Algiers neighborhood.
A second wave of volunteers and teachers.
This project would not have been possible without a second wave of additional volunteers and teachers, who came to New Orleans to provide their creative services. Below is an incomplete list of these amazing instructors.
Aubrey Edwards
Aubrey Edwards, a cultural photographer, stands out as a key contributor to The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, as she helped to transform the program. Specifically, she incorporated the concept of battery-powered studio lighting into the curriculum, which augmented the in-the-streets approach of the program.
Because of her instruction and guidance, battery-operated studio lights were purchased, and the staff members were trained to teach the students how to use this equipment. As a result, the neighborhoods were transformed into studio spaces, and a new vocational skill was taught. The photograph here was taken by Aubrey of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project “Krewe”.
Ben Wooten
Ben Wooten and Erica Walker came down to New Orleans from Wisconsin to teach a series of pinhole camera-making and imaging workshops, and to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity gutting houses.
According to Ben, "This collaboration with the NOKCP stemmed out of my own work as a student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I am currently enrolled in the woodworking and furniture design program. These New Orleans workshops are designed to introduce the kids to an aspect of photography with which they have had no experience - namely large format, and lensless. To this end I have designed a simple wooden pinhole camera, built around Lisco Regal II 4x5" cut film holders, and assembled as a kit entirely with stainless steel thumbscrews and threaded inserts. Each kid will recieve a camera kit at the first workshop - this includes the precut wood for the carcass with all of the inserts correctly alligned and installed, a small pouch of hardware, a lensboard with shutter, and a large isometric exploded drawing (LEGO-esque) instruction sheet for assembly. The idea is for each kid to need nothing short of their two hands to assemble, use, and keep his/her own camera." The resulting photographs were mesmerizing, and the participants were able to keep the pinhole cameras and customize them with paint and other decor.
Courtney Egan
Courtney Egan is an experimental media artist. She manipulates video as if it were a traditional collage element, cutting, pasting, and animating video clips. She taught young participants in the program how to operate video cameras. She is also an instructor in the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts' media arts program, and made valuable contributions to the curriculum with a variety of video and media projects.
A sample of her teaching instruction is captured in the video below.
Galleries, Exhibits, Museums, Etc.
A number of venues—local and beyond—supported the young artists by featuring their work, and the marketing information about some of these exhibits is provided below.
In addition to these samples, the archived webpage offers more examples of the youth sharing their work as professional artists in gallery spaces and museums.
"Remembrance and ReBirth, Celebrating the Healing Power of the Arts"
A Contemporary Arts Center Exhibition
"Remembering Katrina....One Year Later"
Hosted by My Sister’s Place as a Sky Bridge Benefit at Chartwell Studios in Sharon Spring, New York.
"The New Orleans Kid Camera Project Photography exhibit ReBirth: A Celebration of New Orleans"
Charleston, South Carolina, College of Charleston campus at the Stern Center Gardens.
In summary...
The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, founded by Joanna Rosenthal, Cat Malovic and Chelsea Haaland, operated from October 2005 through August 2009, at which time the participant galleries were no longer uploaded to the website and regular weekly meetings in the various New Orleans neighborhoods had come to a close.
In total, The New Orleans Kid Camera Project connected with the following flooded neighborhoods throughout the city: Ninth Ward, St. Bernard Parish, Sixth Ward, Seventh Ward, Twelfth Ward, Gert Town, New Orleans East, and Gentilly.
NOKCP facilitated a number of exciting workshops, grants, and partnerships under the co-direction of Ariya Martin, Joanna Rosenthal, and Tara Malik from October 2007-August 2009. Examples include: Transforma Projects Mini-Grant Award, Long Vue Partnership, United Houma Nation Youth Camp 2009, and partnership with grassroots organizations ReThink and the Youth Empowerment Project. Additionally, KCP conducted photo workshops with youth in the 7th Ward in collaboration with the Dreamcatchers Project by KIDsmART: An art program for the Porch at the 7th Ward Community Center with Xavier University's Art Department.
Ariya has remained a resident of New Orleans and became a professor of photography at the University of New Orleans. Ariya also took on the role of steward of the work for The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, and as such, she has maintained relationships with the participants and continued to exhibit their work, collaboratively with Joanna and Tara, in various venues. Furthermore, Ariya also successfully lobbied for pieces from The New Orleans Kid Camera Project to be archived in The Historic New Orleans Collection in 2025.
Because of her efforts, the local participants have been afforded numerous opportunities to enjoy the gallery shows alongside their community, as they reflect back on the program, its purpose, and their valued contributions.
Enjoy this video depicting interviews of the Twelfth Ward group.
Archived Information
The following content was extracted from The New Orleans Kid Camera Project’s original website and is provided below as a means for publicizing and preserving these materials.
Mission Statement
The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was created to address the psychological and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans.
Through the use of photography, creative writing, and mixed media, children from flooded neighborhoods explore their environment and express themselves, their stories and feelings with their friends. This project provides a venue for growth and recovery.
By teaching the children tangible skills and exposing them to new means of expression, we hope to empower them to impact their lives and environment.
Our Philosophy, Vision, and Goals
Sitting on a porch in the Ninth Ward, a neighborhood usually overlooked until it was made famous by the floods that ravaged New Orleans, four children who recently returned home closely examine photographs.
As they look at the images they have captured on film, stories flow forth of what the pictures mean to them: what that broken-down house looked like before the storm, how they used to ride their bikes through that church lot, how that heaping mound of garbage is actually a pile of all their messed up things, etc. The children are absorbed in their art. Their stories are rich, and they tell them with enthusiasm. Their laughter is beautiful and contagious. Through our work with returning kids in New Orleans’ communities, the healing power of the creative process has become apparent.
We seek to empower children through art and to help them find their voices through photography, writing, and other creative mediums. With cameras that we provide, the children take pictures of their lives.
Thus far, they have documented everything from cleaning house to sunsets to military personnel in their neighborhood to the arrival home of family members. Weekly group meetings offer a safe and nurturing environment for children to openly share their photographs, stories, and impressions of their changed world, while also cultivating creative and emotional tools that will help them for the rest of their lives.
In New Orleans, as in other parts of the United States, there is an absence of services that address the emotional and psychological needs of children from low-income families. This is especially problematic here and now in the Gulf South after Hurricane Katrina. The political climate is heated, the city is changing at a neck-breaking pace, and the children are still being lost in the shuffle.
We believe there is a need for services for these children, and we believe in the power of the creative process. It is the meeting place of these two beliefs that The New Orleans Kid Camera Project has emerged. The goals for this project are listed below.
Project Goals
Community Involvement
To collaborate with local artists, galleries, and coffee shops to display the children’s art.
To provide a space and purpose for social networks that were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina to rebuild.
To become involved in the children’s lives by holding weekly classes in their neighborhoods, allowing class facilitators the opportunity to meet and talk with members of the community.
Art Therapy
To explore the emotional terrain of the children’s environment through active artistic expression.
To teach children from underprivileged communities productive ways to communicate their experiences.
To document and reflect upon the widespread, rapid, and dramatic changes upon the children’s environment.
To foster a sense of teamwork among the group members.
To provide a potential space for healing through caring and nurturing human-to-human connections.
Sustainability
To expand the program so that more children can benefit in communities throughout New Orleans and its surrounding areas.
To have a gallery show of the children’s work.
To create a documentary book of the children’s work for sale, all proceeds directly funding The New Orleans Kid Camera Project.
To create products such as t-shirts, magnets, and note cards for sale, all proceeds directly funding The New Orleans Kid Camera Project.
To collaborate with community and corporate partner organizations, offering the local and national business sector to play a part in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Education and Professional Opportunities
To increase the children’s confidence in their vision and their ability to be an agent for change.
To build a library of photography books so students can research and learn from artists of other cultures and eras.
To develop photography and journalism skills, interest, and experience.
To develop computer literacy by teaching Adobe Photoshop, web page design, and basic computer skills.
To help develop professionalism in the presentation of photographs for commercial purposes.
Social Awareness
To share an unfiltered view of New Orleans through the eyes of its children.
To introduce the interplay of an individual’s impact on one’s environment, as well as the environment’s impact on the individual.
Weekly Workshops
The first phase of learning combines the use of photography and verbal and/or written expression. Groups range in size from two to four children per group and range in age from eight to eighteen years old. Consistent participation by the group members is expected. We provide the children with cameras and develop the film for them once a week. The images are shared at weekly group meetings, as are spoken word and creative writing exercises such as rap and poetry.
The second phase is in the process of being fully developed. It will involve teaching darkroom skills and photography basics such as metering, shutter speed, and depth of field. We will also introduce computer editing techniques using Adobe Photoshop and the uploading of photographs to the Internet, along with web page design. During this phase of learning, we will design stickers, t-shirts, flyers, magnets, and other products that can be sold to help sustain the project.
Archived and Other Related Resources
Archived drafts of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project website, from creation to the date it became inactive, can be found here. While some pictures and links are no longer available, many images and poems remain on the website and can be viewed by browsing. Also, the Kidcameraproject YouTube channel was created and designed to share videos about the program.
Additional supplementary related resources associated with The New Orleans Kid Camera Project are posted below:
Chronicle of Philanthropy
Young People capture Horrors and Hope After Katrina (2007)
Viewers are encouraged to explore the archived group galleries, which were created during the timeframe of the program’s existence, and consider the participants’ lived experiences that are clearly depicted in the photographs and compositions published herein.
Reflections
The unique phenomenon that came to be known as The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was the remarkable synergy of a collective group of unique and creative individuals, who channeled an extraordinary force of psyche together, to realize this outcome.
Furthermore, the preservation of this project is dedicated to those community members who survived the life-altering effects of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt their neighborhoods, despite the almost insurmountable challenges they faced.
