Oh Snap! Santa Barbara Junior High Students Ditch Their Phones for Analog Cameras

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—“A picture is worth a thousand words,” but this school project is priceless, and it’s creating accessibility and equity in the arts.
 
Teacher Librarian Chris Greeley has launched “Picture Me Grom” a photography project that provides students with analog cameras to capture meaningful everyday moments without filters or screens.
  
Eighth grader Isabella Lopez Solis is developing her passion—one thoughtful click at a time.
 
“I can take as many pictures as I want on my iPhone, but with the camera I have to like, really think about what I'm taking a picture of because then I can only take so many,” said Solis.
 
Students have already found tricks on how to get the perfect shot.
 
“Keep your distance from the flash, that's something a little different. You can't just go up close like you could with a regular phone. It's kind of a little bit more fun. You put more thought into it,” said 7th grader Luke Longman.

Each photo evokes a different feeling.
 
“The framing of it, just this darkness. And then you see this like light at the end of the hallway. I don't know, I mean, there's something so artistic about each and every one of these, whether they intended it or not,” said Teacher Librarian Chris Greeley.

“I’ve tried black and white film and colored film. So the black and white makes it like more moody and darker, and the color one makes it happier and brighter,” said 7th grader zephyrus colburn.

This program was funded by the Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s Teacher’s Grant Program.

The grant provided $1,395 to Greeley’s project.
 
The purpose? to foster creativity and mindfulness, allowing students to capture the moments that resonate with them.
 
“Kids are super into photography right now. I mean, we're around with our phones all the time, but I wanted to give them an opportunity to do something. Like I said, analog. Just understand the appreciation for actually taking a photo and finding beauty in a moment and not just having this throwaway digital photo. We just take tens and hundreds of photos at a time. I really wanted them to be intentional about the photos that they were taking,” said Greeley.
 
After the film is developed, each student chooses one photograph to be printed, framed, and displayed in the school library.
 
“they were able to just capture just the goofy, the insane, the boring, the amazing aspects of life,” said Santa Barbara Junior High Principal Dan Dupont.
 
This year, The Santa Barbara Education Foundation awarded more than $282,000 in teacher grants to educators across the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Next year, Greeley has plans to take this project even further, hoping to secure funds for a dark room with film development training for the kids.