*Image from the Through Our Lens project in partnership with Women's Resource Center, Cambodia
ABOUT PHOTOFORWARD
PhotoForward arts and media programs empower artists of all ages to share their own stories through photography, visual arts, community art, and creative writing. Since the program was launched by Allison Milewski, we have provided hundreds of children and adult learners in under-served communities with the opportunity to explore their cultures, express their experiences, and raise their voices.
With cameras in their hands and the skills to create images that reflect their world, our artists are documenting their lives from their own perspectives and celebrating their community's history, while defining its future. Our programs provide comprehensive instruction in the arts through a dynamic curriculum that promotes literacy and encourages self-exploration and active community engagement as citizen artists.
Our programs are successful because they are sustainable. Each project is developed in partnership with a local organization and includes professional development training and resources for our partners, so they can continue to provide arts-based community programs long into the future.
With cameras in their hands and the skills to create images that reflect their world, our artists are documenting their lives from their own perspectives and celebrating their community's history, while defining its future. Our programs provide comprehensive instruction in the arts through a dynamic curriculum that promotes literacy and encourages self-exploration and active community engagement as citizen artists.
Our programs are successful because they are sustainable. Each project is developed in partnership with a local organization and includes professional development training and resources for our partners, so they can continue to provide arts-based community programs long into the future.
PhotoForward Collaborations
PhotoForward works in partnership with community-based organizations, social service agencies, and public schools to develop targeted programs that challenge, educate, and inspire the young people we serve. Collaborations include:
- Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, Independent Museum, Luang Prabang, Laos
- Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC), Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Map Your World, Stanford University: John W. Gardner Center for Youth & Communities, California
- My Library, Luang Prabang, Laos
- Women's Resource Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Anjali House, Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Good Shepherd Services, Foster Care Services and Residences, New York, NY
- Facing History School, New York, NY
Founder, Allison Milewski
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Allison is the Founder of PhotoForward, which she launched in 2005 to provide learners in under-served communities with the resources and skills to share their stories through photography, visual arts, and creative writing. She has since worked with hundreds of youth and adult students and has developed professional development training workshops and resources for organizations in the U.S. and Asia.
For over 15 years, Allison has worked in arts and media education and international and domestic program development with a focus on gender equality, human rights, and youth empowerment. She is a media education specialist and has developed academic enrichment programs, community-based media literacy projects, art therapy integration programs, and professional development workshops through her work with organizations such as PBS, Independent Television Services (ITVS), Tribeca Film Institute, Latino Public Broadcasting, Good Shepherd Services, and Facing History High School and developed and managed art-based academic programs for over 20 New York City public schools. Allison has authored middle school, high school, and college level academic curricula for a broad range of award-winning documentary films and television series, including The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo by Amy Steckler, Waste Land by Lucy Walker, The Storm that Swept Mexico by Ray Telles, Rebel by Maria Agui Carter, and The Island President by Jon Shenk. In 2012, her curriculum for Independent Television Services received the prestigious endorsement of The National Council for the Social Studies and is the most frequently downloaded resource in ITVS's Community Classroom collection. Allison recently worked in partnership with the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University and ITVS on Map Your World, a multi-platform project that puts the power of new technologies into the hands of young change agents, enabling them to map, track, and improve the health of their own communities. Her professional experience also includes extensive work for domestic and international NGOs such as PCI-Media Impact, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Goods for Good, and the Union Square Awards for Grassroots Activism. She attended the Literacy through Photography Institute with Wendy Ewald at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, the certificate program for Creative Arts Therapy at The New School, and received a BA in Liberal Arts from the New School for Social Research with a concentration in Media Studies and Women’s Studies. She is a member of the Women's Caucus for Art and presented at the 58th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in 2014. Allison currently lives and works in New York City, Laos, and Cambodia. |
Why Photography?
Photography provides us with the power to shape our world and tell our own story from our own creative perspective. It challenges us to confront our assumptions and ask ourselves deeper questions about the barrage of images and messages that surround us everyday. It is an accessible medium that allows the novice to make images like a professional but requires hard work and many years to truly master. Photographs can transcend the limitations of language and spark conversation, giving insight into people's lives and raising awareness about issues that affect us all.
Through their photographs, young artists have the opportunity to share who they are, how they see their world, and who they hope to become and to teach us how to be better mentors, collaborators, and life-long learners.
Through their photographs, young artists have the opportunity to share who they are, how they see their world, and who they hope to become and to teach us how to be better mentors, collaborators, and life-long learners.
Email us: info@photoforward.org
