A few common themes at the Photographic Society of Rhode Island are mentoring & education. All year long our photography “season” is filled with events that we participate in as photographers that are geared towards improving our craft. Presentations, image studies, mentoring nights, competitions, and workshops are all held for the members of the club on a weekly basis. We all see and participate in many of these very events.
[See image gallery at www.psri.us] On Saturday, September 29 I was able to see something a little bit different, and a lot special. As you may or may not know, March of this year marked the 100 year anniversary of Girl Scouts of America. This organization shares PSRI’s themes of mentoring & education, and is aimed at building young girls of courage, confidence and character. The celebration for this milestone was held at Waterfire Providence, and consisted of bridging ceremonies, luminaria processions, torch salutes, food & drink, Girl Scout cookies, and LOTS of the color green everywhere! As part of this 100 year anniversary, the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island embarked on what they called their “Year in the Life of Girl Scouting” photography project. Sixteen girl scouts set out to document the life of a girl scout during the course of a year, and Girl Scouts are a very active and busy bunch of young ladies!
[See image gallery at www.psri.us] Three members of PSRI teamed up with the girl scouts and spent countless hours helping the GSRI make their project a great success. PSRI members Mike Di Stefano, Cemal Ekin, and Dennis Goulet volunteered countless hours teaching in person classes with the girls, as well as providing many online image reviews. Over 700 images were created by the girls and reviewed by Mike, Cemal and Dennis before 80 images were selected for printing by our good friends at Printmakers. Many of these 80 images were on display this past Saturday night as the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island showed off their work to the public under 2 tents on Steeple Street at Waterfire. As I took some photos of the girls photographs I was lucky enough to witness one Girl Scout jumping with excitement and tears in her eyes as she showed her friends and family her photograph. It was being used on a poster used to advertise the event. It was an amazing event to witness, and to know that the members of PSRI had a hand in making this happen is very special indeed.
Thank you very much, and congratulations to Mike, Cemal, and Dennis! Job well done!
