Sylvia Johnson
Home Institution: American University, Washington, DC
Host: Salvador, Brazil (Independent Study)
Field: Media Arts
Dates of Grant: October 1, 2005 - July 1, 2006

Sylvia Johnson was born in Bolivia to American parents and was raised in different countries. She was finishing her master's degree in Film and Media Arts at American University when she took up her Fulbright Student grant and went to the favela community of Alagados/Jardim Cruzeiro in Salvador, Brazil.

Johnson sought to use photography as a means of “self-expression and access to voice for children from a marginalized community whose voice is seldom represented in dominant forms of media.” She said of her work, “The twelve students in my class use photography to document and represent their community, their families, themselves, and their dreams from their own point of view. The images that they have produced are powerful and it has been quite a journey to have the opportunity to see the community through their eyes. The photographs have also sparked discussion about the community both within the class and when we have held an exhibit of the photographs for other people in the community.”

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