Portland and Casco Bay - Plan your next Portland Maine Vacation

PORTLAND, MAINE, STUDENTS TO GO ON PHOTO ASSIGNMENT WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO DOCUMENT IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON (July 23, 2007)--National Geographic photographer Amy Toensing will give a group of Portland, Maine, teenagers -- all refugees from Sudan and Somalia -- a unique opportunity to document their lives and surroundings during National Geographic's Portland Photo Camp 2007.

From July 26-29, the Portland High School students will photograph, edit and design a portrait of their new lives in Portland and the immigrant communities near Kennedy Park. The Photo Camp is presented in partnership with The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

During the four-day workshop at The Salt Institute, Toensing will brief the students on photographic vision, equipment and technique; accompany them on their assignments; critique their work; and guide them through the process of creating a story. The students will be assigned to photograph images of "surroundings," "my life in Portland" and "portraits of family and community." National Geographic magazine photo editor Susan Welchman and five Salt photography alumni from across the country will join Toensing and the young photographers as they review their work together, using the photographs as a catalyst for discussion about their life experiences.

"We hope that Photo Camp 2007 can give these students a voice and the opportunity to explore the current state of their lives," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice president, Mission Programs. "We feel honored to participate in this endeavor."

Participants, their families and community members are invited to a presentation of the students' work on July 29 at The Salt Institute, 110 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine.

EVOLT SLR cameras for the Photo Camp have been provided by Olympus Imaging America Inc. Additional equipment has been donated by Lowepro, Epson, Adobe and Kingston.

National Geographic Mission Programs is sponsoring Photo Camps this year in Oaxaca, Mexico; San Francisco; New York; Houston; Portland, Maine; New Orleans; Erie, Pa.; and Baltimore, in partnership with VisionWorkshops of Annapolis, Md.

In addition to Toensing's work for National Geographic magazine, she has covered editorial assignments for various national and international publications and private corporations since 2000. Her photographic stories intimately render the lives of ordinary people. In 2003 Toensing was named Photographic Alumni Fellow at The Salt Institute, where she worked on a portrait of Muslim teenage girls living in Western culture.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 300 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; radio programs; films; books; DVDs; maps; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 8,000 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.

The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies of Portland, Maine, offers graduate and undergraduate students from around the world intensive studies in the art of telling stories through documentary photography, writing or radio. The experiential education programs of The Salt Institute collect, communicate and preserve nonfiction stories about Maine people, culture and landscape that, as they relate to the larger world, foster community and celebrate the diversity and the commonality of humanity.
###

###
Contacts:
Sarah Clark
National Geographic
(202) 828-5664
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kirsten Elstner
VisionWorkshops
(410) 990-1611, (410) 279-5481 cell
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Donna Galluzzo
The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
(207) 347-6252, (207) 653-2010 cell
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it