London based non-profit organisation Café Art have created a photography competition in which they gave 105 homeless people disposable cameras to take around the city.
The aim of the competition is to have those living on the street take pictures that represent ‘my London’.
Those who participated in the competition were given the opportunity to have their photography displayed around the city and in a printed calendar.
Paul Ryan, the co-director of Café Art, said that the annual photography competition welcomed participants from all levels of experience.
“Some people have had experience, and others have never picked up a camera before.”
The Café Art program allows the homeless people of London to have access to inclusive mentorship programs from trained volunteers and professionals from the Royal Photographic Society.
Previous winners of the photography competition are often permanently inducted into the Royal Photographic Society, allowing a whole plethora of opportunities and experiences for participants involved.
The aim of the project is to encourage and aid those who are participating to re-engage socially, activate dormant life skills, search for housing and get back into the job market.
The Café Art program has helped hundreds of individuals living on the streets gain purpose, and improve their overall well-being.
“It makes you wake up for something… It kind of gets you back into a thinking way of life. Working and things like that, if you’re homeless it is hard to get a job and this has helped do that.”
“I really enjoyed it. And I started to get involved in my art again, which I’d left for years.”
Check out the top 11 participants from the Café Art project below.
Via Upworthy.
