NOLA THRU MY EYES
NOLA Thru My Eyes is a photography educational outreach program organized by Carol Harris of the N’Awlins D’Awlins Baby Dolls and facilitated by photographer and lead instructor, Linda A. Reno to motivate and empower New Orleans youth (ages 10-15) to learn the craft of visual storytelling so they can document their own culture in their own authentic voices.
The unique African-retentive / street culture of New Orleans is consistently documented by photographers, but quite often these photographers are not members of the culture. NOLA Thru My Eyes is for the kids of the culture - those born of Cultural Bearers or those who are Cultural Bearers themselves, as well as frequent participants in the culture of New Orleans.
The objective of this initiative is to give the kids of the culture the opportunity to make images in an effort to explore the catharsis of creative expression and to engage in visual storytelling to both create and control the narrative of their own lived experience. This is their history to be documented, and Thru My Eyes will offer the youth the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to become the most prominent narrators of their culture while also striving to offer an antidote to crime by encouraging youth to shoot pictures and not guns.
The TEAM - NOLA THRU MY EYES
Carol Harris, also known as Baby Doll Kit, is a native New Orleanian Cultural Bearer. She is founder of the N’Awlins D’Awlins Baby Dolls. She has a track record of creating and implementing public programs to celebrate New Orleans culture including The Baby Doll Blessing of the Streets annually since 2018, The Baby Doll Juneteenth Celebration - History Through Our Eyes, and The NOLA River Fest. Carol is committed to empowering the youth of New Orleans to continue the traditions of street culture to keep the unique culture of the city alive and thriving.
Linda A. Reno is a photographer/storyteller/educator residing in New Orleans, LA. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin where she earned an M.A. in Photojournalism. She has been a photography educator at Metairie Park Country Day School since 2020, where she shares the craft of visual storytelling with New Orleanian youth. Her personal work focuses on documenting subcultures and exploring the manifestation of ancient collective memory within culture. To that end, she has been photographing Second Lines in New Orleans since 2007, and amassed a collection of over 150,000 images depicting this uniquely African-retentive cultural and spiritual practice.
