OLPC Photographs

Photography is a powerful medium that conveys a message through an emotional and visceral impulse in the viewer. An image can tell the story of hardships, frustrations and joys, and the immutable human spirit in a way that transcends words.

I am curating and archiving OLPC photographs from around the world – of communities, kids, teachers, and the towns and cities they live in.  I believe the best photographs portray a sense of daily life and learning. I want to collect and show a set of photographs for people who love photography. They will present an intimate portrait of the subjects that can be achieved by close observation and interaction over time. They will show children and their families in daily life at home and in school, reading, studying, working, and at play.

These photographs will strive to answer basic questions about how OLPC affects children, their families, and community: How is learning valued at home?  How do children, parents and teachers work and study together, or with others?  What are their hopes for the future?  How do they share stories or ideas with other towns?  What music and videos do they like?

Here are some great photos found so far:

Boy using XO in Peru

Child and grandmother at home in Peru

Children in a classroom in Peru

Children show their XOs in Uruguay

Whole school with XOs in Sichuan

Girls sitting on gate working on XOs in Colonia, Uruguay

Child on salt lake with XO in Pilbara, Western Australia

Boys working together in classroom in Mongolia

Girl learning with XO in classroom in Gaza

Girls using laptop in field in Peru

Children learning with laptops in a village in Colombia

Boy works with XO on the ground in Uruguay

Children learn and play in Brazil

-Mike

New OLPC site in the works

Our design partners have been developing a new design for the OLPC website, one that draws in contributions from our partner and chapter sites around the world. I saw the latest designs this week, and loved them!  We’ll have more updates about the site soon, once everyone’s back from the Realness Summit and we’ve heard from Mike Massey, our new photo maven.

The biggest change: we’re going to convert the homepage from a big logo to a series of full-screen images from deployments, with background details and links to more information. If you have any amazing photographs or stories you’d like to see featured on our homepage, please post a link to them.

Teasers:

An overview of stories
an OLPC world map

New Year’s newsletter : 2009 in review

Here is our first take on recent events at a glance, in a new, flexible format.  This alpha edition covers milestones from our work this past year – what better time to reflect than now, as 2009 draws to a close? We are sending this out as an update to our past supporters as well. 

If you want to share this, or read it on a mobile device, you may find it easier to view it on laptop.org. Enjoy these flashbacks, and have a Happy New Year!

One Laptop per Child
Introducing the XO-3 Introducing the XO-3 XOs on horseback in Uruguay Uruguay gives an XO to every child
 Rwanda plans one laptop per child by 2012 Rwanda plans one laptop per child by 2012 Thank you for everything you do! Thank you for your support. Please help us do more: give a laptop or donate in another way.