For Alyssa Montgomery-Reid, photography is about capturing the beautiful things that people often miss.
“We walk by so many beautiful things in a day but we never realize, ‘Oh, wow that’s pretty.’ We never take notice of it,” she said.
The 12-year-old is a member of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band’s Right to Play photo club which held their first photo gala on July 26 at the Keremeos Legion. Photo club members displayed eight of their best photos on large and small prints. Residents from communities in the Similkameen Valley came out to see the exhibit.
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“I got to see people’s reactions to my work and people’s reactions to other people’s work. Because everyone’s work is different,” she said, adding she sold several of her prints.
In the two years since the club was started, Reid said she has learned different styles of photography and a lot about the technical settings, such as aperture and shutter speed.
“It’s really fun. It’s about getting out and taking pictures of nature, which is more interesting to me,” she said. “The flowers and the river and small little leaves.”
When Reid took a trip to Kitimat recently, she said she focused on capturing the beautiful and remote landscape of northern B.C.
“It teaches youth skills for a future career. It’s all outdoors. They are getting to see and appreciate their community through the lens,” said Shauntelle Flooren, a prevention co-ordinator with the LSIB who organizes the club meetings, every Thursday during the school year.
Right now, the young photographers mostly use their cellphone cameras, Flooren said, but they are hoping to raise money for real DSLR cameras.
“They’ve been taking their skills out of the community, too, so when they go on holidays a lot of them are taking pictures.”
All the money raised at the gala is going toward buying LSIB Wolf Pack sweaters.
Chief Keith Crow was so impressed with their work and how seriously they took the project he pledged to buy half the sweaters.
“They were all involved,” she said. “They dressed up and they socialized and worked the crowd and talked about their process.”
The club members are looking at other venues to show their photos, such as the art gallery in Penticton and the Grist Mill and Gardens in Keremeos.
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