Project Overview:
On July 8, 1998, armed with cameras and tape-recorders, members of the Beecher and Masten Chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo, with the assistance of five mentors, began to gather the oral and visual histories of the people in their neighborhoods. Buffalo: Portrait of a City is the culmination of a six week Youth Mentoring Program with the Buffalo Boys & Girls Clubs and CEPA (Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art) Gallery. The goal of this collaboration was to provide an opportunity for students to become educated about their neighborhoods and to meet new people by conducting interviews and photographing what they saw.
Often the world is too busy to notice the positive things that come out of our inner-city communitites because we are bombarded with negative images presented by the media. CEPA and the Boys & Girls Clubs wanted to offer a fun and educational way for club members to meet people in their neighborhoods, while learning and documenting the rich history of Buffalo.
The object of approaching people for interviews was for students to understand that everyone has a story to share; and you’ll never get to know a person’s history, beliefs, or opinions until you ask. The members of the Beecher Club, located on Tenth Street, collected data on the West Side, and the Masten Club members, located on Northland Avenue, gathered information on the East Side.
Participants of the club, ages 6 - 17, were challenged to develop several open-ended questions to ask in order to obtain interviews from people in their community. When looking for potential interviewees the “young journalists” had to introduce themselves, say what club they represented, and explain the project. When considering neighbors for photographs, the “young photographers” had to ask for permission. This process taught the young journalists and photographers the importance of speaking clearly, being polite, and listening to others.
The neighbors were asked questions about their goals and hopes for the future, and questions about serious issues such as drugs and crime, which run rampant on our streets. At times the “journalists” asked personal questions, like “Are you married?” and, “Do you have any kids?” Their neighbors almost always responded with an answer and a smile.
The club members eagerly approached people on the street, often running to see who could get the first interview. One afternoon, their enthusiasm helped them get seventeen interviews. They interviewed people of all ages, racial backgrounds, and walks of life; including business men and women, college students, a man who was addicted to drugs, an HIV/AIDS educator, a pharmicist, and a professional boxer who had met Muhammad Ali.
Neighbors spoke truthfully and candidly about their experiences living in Buffalo. One impressive response was from Sandy, a neighbor we met on the West Side. When asked, “If there was anything you could do to change your neighborhood what would it be?”
Her response, “I would probably focus more on children’s education, and remind the parents that the kids of today are tomorrow’s future. Parents need to encourage their children to keep going to school, no matter how hard it gets. They need to forget about the problems at home and to keep moving ahead.”
After the interviewing component of the project was completed, the “journalists and photographers” came to CEPA’s new darkroom where they learned how to enlarge the photographs they had taken. They used the computer facility at CEPA, to learn how to place images into a writing assignment about their most memorable interview.
Two murals were painted by the club members, with help from the staff of the Boys & Girls Clubs and CEPA, on the outside of the Masten Club, and on the inside of the Beecher Club. The murals were designed from the students’ photographs, and will serve as a reminder in years to come of the hard-work that made this community experience possible.
The students began to realize as they progressed through the six week project that we often over-look the people in our neighborhoods who are making changes and doing positive things for the community. Too many times we look to athletes and entertainers to serve as our heroes and role-models, yet there are many people right here in our own backyards who go unrecognized.
Two thousand images and one hundred interviews later, I am proud of the sixty-three “journalists and photographers” of the Beecher and Masten Chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs who have captured the essence of their neighborhoods in our inner city communitites. Buffalo: Portrait of a City represents a selection of the club member’s work. I am overjoyed with the final outcome of this journal, and am elated by the club members who eagerly collected interviews and took photographs.
Buffalo: Portrait of a City will remind everyone involved of the dedication that was made in preserving the history of two Buffalo neighborhoods. We would like to thank the neighbors who took a moment of their time to be interviewed and photographed.
— Crystal Tinch
Crystal Tinch has been with CEPA since January 1998 where she acts as Mentor Coordinator and Teacher for CEPA’s Youth Mentoring Education Programs. A graduate of Fredonia State College, Crystal is also employed by the Buffalo Public Schools and is an active participant in many youth oriented volunteer programs.
