PhotoDART: Documentary Art by Rachel Taylor :::[DART]:::


Contact: Rachel Taylor
Email: info@photodart.org
Mb: 0411 271 176



PhotoDART is a tool for community and cultural development that uses a grassroots approach to photography and new digital media. Projects are designed for research and to explore themes of identity and community in ways that develop cultural awareness, critical thinking, life skills and issue awareness. PhotoDART also aims to provide individual and collective experiences of empowerment by giving voice to the communities, social groups and schools that participate.

PhotoDART therefore seeks to benefit any community that considers awareness, empowerment and the building of positive attitudes, behaviours and relationships to be crucial steps toward the healthy development of its members and the community as a whole.

PhotoDART offers a range of projects for schools and individual community groups including regional Australian and remote Indigenous communities and groups dealing specifically with social and cultural issues such as disability, youth culture and cultural diversity.


There are ten key elements within the PhotoDART project and are as follows:

Knowledge:
• Life-Skills education
• Critical thinking
• Issue awareness
• Cultural awareness
• New digital media use and visual literacy

Tools:
• Photography and video
• Storytelling
• New digital media
• Participation

Research:
• Participatory Action Research

The projects are flexible and vary according to the community groups’ needs and available resources. By combining different elements a range of skills and knowledge necessary for personal, community and cultural development are produced.

Use of Media :::

Sharing the media created can empower participants as it gives them a voice about their ideas and opinions. The media may therefore be used in a number of ways such as:

• An Outdoor Cinema - Film Festival and Community Event where the participants invite the wider community to come and view their media creations in a relaxed social environment.
• a tool for research to influence policy makers
• information to send to local government to create awareness about an issue relevant community group.
• an educational DVD resource to be shown to other towns and community groups
• submission to short film festivals



Please view Community Cultural Development Projects below for examples.

Links to my other sites:

http://www.photodart.multiply.com
http://www.redbubble.com/people/dartmag
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photodart

...or find me on Facebook!


Rachel Taylor ::: "Community Development Photographer"