I'm sad to say that Heather Morton is shutting her blog down until further notice. Hopefully we'll see more of this Canadian creative soon.
Happy Wednesday to all and I hope you enjoy some eye candy courtesy of OG's personal project, Destiny by Design.
©2008 Oscar GarciaWhat made you choose this project?
The main reason for choosing to be involved with and produce a project for Destiny by Design program, was simply for community involvement and service. I know and understand the importance of having positive experiences growing up and how they can contribute to how an individual develops as they get older. Another point of interest was the subject and focus of the program, hip-hop. As a music photographer and hip-hop fan, being involved with a program that strives to provide youth with tools for cultural and career development within music was a simply a no-brainer for me.
How many photos were there before you edited it down to the featured images?
This project involved documenting a entire semester of the Destiny by Design program at Kealing Middle School in Austin, Texas. When it was all said and done, there were thousands of images to go through. Normally that may seem like a big burden, but to be honest, I had a blast. Editing down the images allowed me to revisit the moments that motivated me to get involved in the first place.
What was your favorite aspect of this personal project?
My favorite aspect of this project was definitely being able to directly interact with the kids and give back to the Austin community. The children were great to work with. Something else to note was that Chamillionaire, hip-hop artist and a longtime client of ours, autographed prints (photograph of Chamillionaire that I had taken a few years back) for each of the children who participated in the program. I had mentioned it to him on one of our shoots and he was more than willing to help out. Everyone of the kids were very thankful which aided in making this entire experience well worth it.
You can check out the project online at ogphotographer.com/projects/
Design by Destiny is an after school program provided by Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center.
