The D:lab Maker Session 1
The Ashesi D:Lab organized an exciting photography maker session for the Ashesi community on Wednesday, 19th October, 2022. The event was a resounding success with more than a hundred students showing up. The objective of this session was to give students a hands-on experience on photo editing and manipulation, with the help of an esteemed photographer, and Ashesi alumnus, Cyril Kuornoo. Cyril currently works with the Ashesi Communications Department as a photo editor and photographer, and he is responsible for the media the school uploads on their social media platforms.
Cyril Kuornoo explaining basic photography and Adobe Photoshop concepts
Salia Abdul Mumin kicked off the D: Lab session by giving a rundown of what the D:Lab Maker Session is all about: to bring empathy, creativity, and invention to our world through design making. This culture the D:Lab lives by encourages innovation and craftsmanship in all career types, photography inclusive. Considering how increasingly dependent the world is on technology, it is essential that students have the necessary skills to innovate and become industry experts. This maker session was held to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 which seeks to enhance industry and innovation, and the second goal of African Union’s Agenda 2063, which aims at educating students with science, technology and innovation.
This debut photography maker session is essentially the first stage of honing the potential photography and design skills of the interested Ashesi students. To set the ball rolling, the attendants were asked to download Adobe Photoshop, either on their phones or laptops and follow the editorial instructions Cyril gave. In these instructions, he explained basic editing concepts like warm, saturation, highlights, contrast and many others. There were facilitators around as well to guide students who found the software difficult to use.
Some students editing pictures on Adobe Photoshop
In order to engage the audience and even draw passers-by to the event, there was a free portrait stand where students could get their portraits taken and sent to them for free. To end the program on a good note, snacks were shared to the guest and the student audience for their attention and cooperation. The feedback from some of the student audience was very encouraging as they spoke on how informative, fun and eye-opening the session was. Some of the students had even started editing their own pictures in a unique yet innovative way to post on social media.
Photobooth section at the maker session