Donors to the fototazo microgrant program raised the necessary funds to purchase a Nikon d3100 camera for Medellín, Colombia-based photographer Natalia Lopera in April of 2011. As a way to give her support beyond the donation of the camera, Natalia has also been paired with two mentors through our mentorship program which began in January and receives free monthly classes with me in Medellín.
One of the pleasures of the microgrant process is tracking the progress of grant recipients. Natalia made these images with her grant camera during the last two weeks and I'm excited to see her progress and to share it with you. She continues to develop projects based in the intimacy of her family life in the semi-urban edges of Medellín. Six of her images were recently featured in the Latin American issue of F-Stop Magazine.
I hope seeing her progress will encourage you to consider a small donation to the current microgrant photographer Johana Guerrero Serrano. One dollar from each visitor this week would buy between two and three microgrant cameras; imagine how much impact $5 would make! Small donations really do make a big difference for the development of the microgrant idea and the individual careers of the photographers included in the grant process. 100% of all donations are directly used for equipment purchases. The minimal overhead on this site I pay for myself and I also pay all PayPal and Google Checkout fees. Donations can be made here.
For new visitors to our site, the central mission of fototazo is to support young photographers in Colombia that demonstrate a high level of artistic ability and commitment whose development is currently limited by the inability to purchase necessary equipment. This program will expand to other countries as funding is established.
