MMW photography instructor David Wright traveled to Uganda last year, inspired by the work of filmmaker and fellow MMW faculty, Chandler Griffin's A River Blue NGO.

Founder of the Barefoot Workshops, Chandler launched A River Blue Arts Festival in 2008 as an arts empowerment project for the children of internally-displaced persons camps in northern Uganda.


photo by David WrightThe festival was a great success, prompting Barefoot Workshops to continue its support through a community development project called A River Blue Vocational Training and Rehabilitation Center.

In January and February of last year David spent two months in northern Uganda photographing for A River Blue, where psychosocial counseling and intense vocational training in topics like tailoring, agriculture, and arts are provided to vulnerable youth. He also spent time photographing the citizens and landscapes of the surrounding village of Alebtong.

His series Alebtong, Uganda, 2009 was recently selected as 1 of 3 winners in the 2009 Conscientious Portfolio Competition. David's work is on exhibit at Anastasia Photo in New York February through March 31.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a beautiful A River Blue booklet designed by Josh Gomby and printed by Booksmart Studio in an edition of 250 is available for purchase through donation. 100% of the proceeds go to A River Blue.