Yasin Osman teaches city kids to shoot. Not like, shoot shoot. He teaches them to be photographers. He hopes that this will keep them away from crime, something he knows intimately.
“I don’t know anybody who’s died from cancer,” Osman told The Star. “I only know people who have been killed by gun violence.”
Osman – who is also a childhood educator at a local community center – calls this project Shoot For Peace, and the youth flock to him.
Each week Osman takes the new photographers to a new part of town and presents a new challenge, like using motion blur or playing with depth-of-field. Then the kids run with it and let their own creativity take over.
While I was shooting with the kids today one of them saw a mother and a son playing soccer together. He walked up to the mother and asked if he could take a photo of the soccer ball. She smiled, said yes and he took the photo. Now normally most people would be shy to interrupt something like that, but when you’re a kid that stuff doesn’t matter. It was so refreshing to see. A lesson I learnt from this as a photographer is that you can’t let shyness prevent you from taking a great image. Plus, the worst thing someone can say to you is no. #KidsCanTeachUsToo
What started as hangouts with the neighborhood kids who were curious about his camera is now a big project for Osman. His secret? Giving the kids their own autonomy.
“Talk to the kids. Don’t start anything until you consult them and ask them what they’re interested in,” Osman told Kaboom.
Some decent life advice in general, right?
