So, as you may know, I volunteer for a non-profit called “Sharing Caring Culture“, which is a group that was created to help international families living in Yokohama, and has become so much more. I am the group’s photographer, for which I get a small honourarium when they are able (some of their events receive small grants to cover such costs). I really admire their dedication to multiculturalism and human rights and to making Japan a friendlier place for non-Japanese families.
One of the events they run is a multicultural storytime, at which several group members from various countries read stories in their native languages to children. This month the event happened at the Yamauchi library near Azamino, and the readers were from Indonesia, Nigeria, and Nepal. The kids were very attentive, active, and curious (which can be a bit rare in Japan), but due to the library’s policies, I wasn’t able to photograph them (the young woman who appears in one of the photos is the daughter of the Nepalese reader, not an audience member).
The challenge with photographing such events is that they take place in very boring rooms with very boring lighting, which means that to make the shots pop, I’ve got to find interesting angles and cheat a little in post-processing to create a sense of drama and depth. Luckily, this room had a lovely dark red curtain that helped a little bit.
