Douglas College Photography Club

By Maria Asselin-Roy, Staff Reporter

re you interested in the field of
Ames Although it has not
yet been advertised, last week
the Douglas College photography club,
named “Capturing the Reality,” had its first
meeting of the semester and is open to new
members.

President of the club, George
Poulakidas, says that anyone is able to
join—whether you are a beginner or if
you already know your way around a
camera. George is an international student
at Douglas, and after recently moving to
Vancouver from Greece he decided to put
his passion for photography to good use
by becoming president of the club. He
previously attended a photography school
in Athens, and he is looking to practice and
teach his skills with other students who
share his passion.

“As a club we will not be only
interested in skilful photographers, but
anybody who wants to learn more. A huge
opportunity for us would be to publish our
pictures to The Other Press in order to gain
some experience publishing our photos,
having deadlines, and having different
assignments,” Poulakidas explains.

It is not necessary to have an SLR
camera to join: Poulakidas says that even
if you have a point-and-shoot camera or
even an iPhone, basic photography skills
can still be taught using a basic camera. The
pictures they will be taking depends on the

week, depending on what assignments are
given. For example, pictures may be needed
to document a sports event, or the club

may set out to document a distinct social
issue. “With each assignment that we do,
we will have a different discussion. Some
assignments may require different lenses,
speed and aperture techniques, things like that.”

“Every week, the club will be out taking photographs based on a particular theme.
Pictures will vary from week to week, depending on what assignments are given.”

Some students in the club also have
knowledge of Photoshop, so students
will be able to learn different techniques
from each other from taking the picture,
to manipulating the image. “It is also
important that we give the students
information about famous photographers,
because it is through them that students can
understand what you have to do or how
you have to present something that you
want in an image.” Poulakidas says that
it is important to understand the views of
significant photographers in order to create
a good eye of your own. “Many people are
not familiar with other photographers’ sense
of personal composition... this is important
to learn because your expression and
feelings in a photograph all depends on your
technique.”

If you are interested in joining
“Capturing the Reality.” meetings are held
every Friday at the New West campus at
4 p.m. in room 206 of the DSU building.
You can also check out the “Capturing
the Reality” Facebook page for more club
details. Or, feel free to contact George at
capturingthereality.dc@ gmail.com.

interests of the members. For example, if
members are interested in using traditional
black and white film photography as well as
digital, Poulakidas has the knowledge and
experience of using a dark room.

In addition to using different
photography techniques, Poulakidas
explains “I would also like to start a bigger
project about a social issue.” By this, he
means that it would be ideal for the club
to find a current social issue that has some
sort of relation with an organization. An
example of this could be the homeless
people of Vancouver. The club would then
find an organization that helps to feed and
clothe the homeless. During the whole year,
the club would then photograph the life
of certain homeless people and at the end
of the year, perhaps hold an exhibit at the
college. All proceeds of the exhibition could
then be returned to the organization. “These
are our two main goals so far—to be able
to publish some of our photos as well as
have an exhibition at the end of the year,”
Poulakidas says.

Every week, the club will be out
taking photographs based on a particular
theme. Pictures will vary from week to

4

 

 

 

Consumer and Job Preparation
program for adults with developmental

disabilities faces funding cuts

 
    

Maria Asselin-Roy
Staff Reporter

unding cuts which put the future of
R= Consumer and Job Preparation

(CJP) program at Douglas College
into question have been stayed—for now.

The year-long Consumer and Job
Preparation program, which typically
takes in a small cohort of students each
year, teaches students with developmental
disabilities life skills for independent living
and finding employment— — such as how
to use public transit and participate in job
interviews.

The CJP program is run by contract
out of Douglas College and supported by
the provincial crown agency Community
Living BC (CLBC)—an government
agency responsible for supporting people
with developmental disabilities in the search
for independence and inclusive employment
in the community.

Earlier this year, CLBC announced
that financial support for the Consumer
and Job Preparation program at Douglas
College was ending. “The government has a
long history of giving the college money to
offer the program,” explains Kathy Denton,
Vice President of the Academic Council at
Douglas, “and the group that manages the
government’s money [Community Living
B.C.] said that they were going to have to
cut the funding.”

  

However, following the announced of
funding cuts, parents lobbied to have the
program carried on. Now, the agency has
agreed to extend the program’s contract
with the College until August 2012— which
allows the current group of students in the
program to complete their year.

Community Living BC stresses the
agency’s commitment to assisting people
with developmental disabilities to find
inclusion through meaningful employment
and, indeed, the CJP program has helped
people with developmental disabilities
to achieve these goals in the past. For
example, one recent graduate is using the
skills acquired from the CJP program to
work at the Old Spaghetti Factory and live
on his own—something that he was not able
to do prior to the program.