SNAPSHOTS Mini Challenge
A lot of things in today’s post. First off, if you haven’t seen our fourth monthly challenge yet, take a look!
SNAPSHOTS editor Sherry Kappel has created an amazing black and white challenge (my favorite style of photography), and we are excited to see the stuff our writers and photographers will create.
But for our weekly challenge, let’s take a look from the ground up. Or directly up from any height. Your challenge this week is to create a post made of images that take a ground up perspective, or one that looks directly up. Show us how your favorite photographic subjects look as if an ant were seeing them, or you were laying on a blanket getting some sun.
The Rules
- In one or several photographs, show us up to 10 images that offer a ground up perspective, as described above.
- Please include a short narrative for each image, telling us something about the piece. Please make sure your total narrative for all items does not exceed 400 words in total, inclusive of title and subtitle.
- Please include a title of your choosing.
- Please include the subtitle ground up.
- Please place title and subtitle UNDER your first photo.
Please include the tags photography and ground up, and any others you wish to include.
While the mini challenge was originally intended to have a 24 hour window, we’ve found that to be prohibitive for many writers. Because of that our mini challenges will always remain open ended with no time limitations.
As always, my entry follows below with a few examples. The header image above was taken with the bottom of my phone camera placed against the ground. The weird side angle was the result of accidentally taking several rapid shots at once. Something went haywire and combined two shots, creating the rather dystopian image you see above. Sometimes accidents can be “a good thing”, to quote Martha Stewart.
From The Ground Up
Taken while lying flat on my back under our crab apple tree in mid afternoon. If you decide to do something similar, might I recommend a towel. Unless of course placing your head into a colony of ants is your thing.
While he is looking uncharacteristically innocent here, if I was an ant I’d be pretty freaked out looking up at Mr. Von Stinky Pants.
Mr. Moles on the other hand would probably try to play with said ant.
Forget the tree, from this angle even that blade of grass is tall.
Finally, An Overtly Political Message
While SNAPSHOTS was never intended to be a politically focused publication, if you’re like me I’m sure many of you are scared, frustrated, angry, and overwhelmed at the blatant human rights abuses occurring in the United States. Asylum seekers arrested and detained. Children and infants separated from caregivers and kept in cages. US government officials denied access to these “prisoners”.
You may also feel helpless, not sure of what to do. Please realize, there are things you can do. The following list, much of the info found at slate.com, is a good place to start.
If you feel the need to disagree, may I suggest you do it somewhere else. And perhaps give your fucking head a shake. This is exactly how things started in Germany. Do you really want that to happen again? Then do something!
How YOU Can Help
- The ACLU is litigating this policy in California.
- If you’re an immigration lawyer, the American Immigration Lawyers Association will be sending around a volunteer list for you to help represent the women and men with their asylum screening, bond hearings, ongoing asylum representation, etc. Please sign up.
- Al Otro Lado is a bi-national organization that works to offer legal services to deportees and migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, including deportee parents whose children remain in the U.S.
- CARA — a consortium of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association — provides legal services at family detention centers.
- The Florence Project is an Arizona project offering free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody.
- Human Rights First is a national organization with roots in Houston that needs help from lawyers too.
- Kids in Need of Defense works to ensure that kids do not appear in immigration court without representation, and to lobby for policies that advocate for children’s legal interests. Donate here.
- The Legal Aid Justice Center is a Virginia-based center providing unaccompanied minors legal services and representation.
- Pueblo Sin Fronteras is an organization that provides humanitarian aid and shelter to migrants on their way to the U.S.
- RAICES is the largest immigration nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families. Donate here and sign up as a volunteer here.
- The Texas Civil Rights Project is seeking “volunteers who speak Spanish, Mam, Q’eqchi’ or K’iche’ and have paralegal or legal assistant experience.”
- Together Rising is another Virginia-based organization that’s helping provide legal assistance for 60 migrant children who were separated from their parents and are currently detained in Arizona.
- The Urban Justice Center’s Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project is working to keep families together.
- Women’s Refugee Commission advocates for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution.
- Finally, ActBlue has aggregated many of these groups under a single button.
Participation
This challenge is open to anyone with an active Medium account. Not yet a writer for us? Here is a link to our SNAPSHOT information page. Take a look at it, review our submission guidelines, and if you think you’d like to participate then leave a response in the comment section below asking to be added as a writer. One of the editors will get back to you shortly letting you know you’ve been added.
Sherry Kappel Crooked Little Flower Patricia Petersen David MontgomeryHana Leshner Jason Stelzner Erik Smith Jess Hicks Ayesha Talib Wissanji Tatiana Reuter Ferreira Daan Spijer Terijo mark-john clifford Elizabeth Helmich Dennett Michael Ramsburg Mal Augustkhalilibrahim Nuraine Sadaf Gail Boenning Ellan Aldryc J. Finley DHBogucki Meg Pesky Pippi Carol Carpenter Mike Stevenson Tien Skye Erika Sauter LaMar Going Stephanie Jackson Rahul Misra Heath Houston J M Jackson miranda deely Sam Griffiths Dusty Craig non sibi cunctis Tracy Aston Clay Rivers Randy Cooper Kathy Jacobs Wild Flower Kerry Kuhn Gutbloom Terrye Turpin Michelle Stafford angus bard vcarolinek Dylan Fogle Willow T. Lovelace Kris Keppeler Meg April Fletcher George Yorgo Hoebeke Jane Kim Kenny Chan Paul S Markle Janice Gill Kayla Roste Tamyka Bell Roy Schlegel Annie Littlewolf Tasneem Kagalwalla Gosia Rokicka Jeff Suwak Zev Akhter Louise Peacock Reverend Nigga Daddy Steve B Howard Alex Shar Elisabeth Khan Kay Bolden James Finn Eric Griggs Saoirse Chloe Cuthbert Heath Houston J M Jackson miranda deely Sam Griffiths Dusty Craig non sibi cunctis Tracy Aston Clay Rivers Randy Cooper Kathy Jacobs Wild Flower Kerry Kuhn Gutbloom Terrye Turpin Michelle Stafford angus bard vcarolinek Dylan Fogle Willow T. Lovelace Kris Keppeler Meg April Fletcher George Yorgo Hoebeke Jane Kim Kenny Chan Paul S Markle Janice Gill Kayla Roste Tamyka Bell Roy Schlegel Annie Littlewolf Tasneem Kagalwalla Gosia Rokicka Jeff Suwak Zev Akhter Louise Peacock Reverend Nigga Daddy Steve B Howard Alex Shar Elisabeth Khan Kay Bolden James Finn Eric Griggs Saoirse Chloe Cuthbert Saoirse
