femLENS' workshops for the most vulnerable and resourceless women will teach visual, technological and storytelling skills. femLENS encourages women from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds to tell their stories through documentary photography, empowering them and making them more confident, as well as helping them become role models in their communities. With the workshops we hope to raise global awareness on social issues through first-hand accounts.
Today's cultural and media representation of women is not inclusive and diverse. There is a lack of educational programs for women in developing and conservative countries. Women in photography remain a minority even in Western countries. Women are systematically excluded from the top of the photography industry. Less than 25% of agency-represented photographers are female. This affects what we see on our front pages, billboards and in most visual media.
Training women in documentary photography and visual storytelling by using mobile phone cameras and other cheap alternatives gives women practical skills that translate to a potential source of income. Moreover, it adds diversity of ideas and voices to the narrative of life in their communities. With help of social media women can increase interest in gender equality in society and tell their stories by themselves.
femLENS will organize 4 workshops and publish 2 magazines that will change the lives of 30 women and share their stories with hundreds of people. It will develop the motivation of women to the knowledge of creativity and increase their interest in photography and storytelling.
