“I had the idea of going to photograph the beautiful trees in Sherbrooke and the goal behind that, it was to give a space and a moment when we are in contact with nature,” explains the worker in community support at the Sherbrooke François Danis springboard.
The organization offers support to young people from 16 to 30 years old who are in a homelessness or who are at risk of becoming. This photography project is part of one of the four axes of the springboard, contact with nature.
Since last summer, Mr. Danis has organized a dozen outings with a few young people to observe the trees of the city and take photos. “Young people are a lot with their cell phones and computers and they do not unfortunately come out. So the idea was to leave and take the time to put yourself in front of a tree and see its details, its particularities. ”
Participants used their cell phone to capture their photos and François Danis admits that he was a bit worried at the start that they use their devices for other purposes. To his surprise, “the young people really embarked” in the activity, even observing details that had escaped the speaker.
The exposure urban roots will be accessible during the opening hours of coffee 440. (Ethan then Laplante)
-From cell to exposure
This should have been a simple exhibition with young people and speakers in the premises of the springboard has turned into a public event presented at Café 440.
“I did not expect it to take this magnitude at all,” reports François Danis. It is a partnership with the club of young entrepreneurs of tomorrow which made the event possible. The opening, in the form of a 5 to 7, will be held on May 8 in the company of the artists, the speakers and a musical animation of DJ Upriver.
François Danis indicates that young people were involved as much as possible in the entire project. For example, one of the participants helped create the promotional poster for the event. “There is even a young person who will speak forward with me at the start of the exhibition,” added the speaker proudly.
Mr. Danis is looking forward to the opening, but he would like to clarify that “it is the process that is important”. Making photography outings, selecting photos with young people and seeing what the project has brought them, that’s the essential for him. “It led them to notify the beauty in the city more.”
For François Danis, this project is a success and it does not exclude the future possibility of carrying out others. “This project may have other suites. This is the trees, but it could be flowers, rivers, animals, birds. ”
