This is neighbourhood 29: an auto-photographic project

This paper seeks to frame the activities around a series on-going auto- photographic projects that explored empowerment through creative expression using photography as a means for communication and building self-esteem. The specific focus of the paper is around the project ‘This is Neighbourhood 29’, it was designed and deployed in order to give a creative opportunity and voice to young people aged 7 to 17 living in the Fushe Kosove area of Pristina. The children were Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian, from the poorest community in one of the poorest countries in Europe (World Bank, 2013). The project was supported by the Kosovan NGO ‘The Ideas Partnership’ as a part of their Summer Programmes. The project and its work seek to enable children to become part of a wider conversation about their place and belonging through the use of photography. The subsequent images produced in the work orientate the viewer towards a sense of the participant’s self-identity and notions of home and community. As a body of images they contribute to a collective representation of community identity and memory. The curation of images into a daily selection of 29 as a means to represent the community will be explored in the context of authorship, editing and the role of activism within the project.