Catalyst Grant Final Report
“Northside Photo League”
Please provide a brief narrative explaining your project and its outcomes.
The Northside Photo League was planned in 2024 for a 2025 that turned out to be very different than we anticipated. While the project did have to pivot on several occasions, the outcomes were similar to what we hoped; it just occurred on very different months.
We had the attendance we hoped for; the excitement from the participants; had robust conversations with kids about how unique and beautiful their home community is; and the permanent photo gallery because of the Northside Photo League is now in three different locations in the library, significantly brightening the library.
Most of the obstacles involved family medical emergencies that led to postponing the project from Spring 2025 to Summer 2025. Additionally, White Branch closed for 2 weeks for building renovations in mid-May. Another obstacle was working within the Onondaga County procurement process while trying to spend grant funds for professional prints.
What is the most remarkable accomplishment or finding of your project?
The most remarkable accomplishment is the images our participants captured, particularly of other children. We were very touched to see what our kids paid attention to and what they chose to focus on with the limited number of shots available in each disposable camera. Additionally, we were inspired by how seriously some of our older participants took the technical side of photography. We had teens on their hands and knees attempting to capture shadows and textures of sidewalks. One of our participants, Mariya, even scaled to the top of a play structure at a local park to take photos of her shadow cast between monkey bars.
How did your project differ from what you originally proposed?
The dates for the walking tours and the exhibit reception were different due to extenuating circumstances, but we otherwise closely followed what we originally proposed.
Please provide a brief summary of your evaluation activities and/or results, if available.
To evaluate Northside Photo League, we chose to use more of a summative evaluation with program participants. We had conversations with most of our participants as the walking tours were ending. Their excitement during the process and the incessant begging for more disposable cameras let us know they enjoyed the experience. Anecdotally, we also knew the program was a success when numerous kids who did not sign up for the program approached staff after the walking tours and asked when they could do the program next. Additionally, we used the photo exhibit reception as an opportunity to gain summative insights into how our participants felt at the end of the project. We judged success on the fact that all our participants showed up to the reception and their excitement at seeing their prints was palpable.
Additionally, we created a photo album of 5×7 prints, and the crowd around the album was four kids deep for most of the reception! Our kids really loved seeing their prints both in the album and on the three display walls.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity. The project is a wonderful testament to the amazing kids that live on the Northside.
Tamice Gates
Children’s Librarian, White Branch Library (OCPL)
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