Upper and middle school students and Esteban Torres High School students came together over the past year to create works of documentary photography, which are now on display in the Feldman Horn Gallery.

Photography teacher Joe Medina worked with photojournalist and educator Alice Proujansky and Estaban Torres High School Media Arts Teacher Adriana Yugovich to launch the project. Medina said his goal for the endeavor was for students from each school to develop an understanding of one another’s backgrounds.

Proujansky taught students from both schools the fundamentals of documentary photography in workshops at the Middle School and Upper School in 2017 and the Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology at Esteban Torres High School this year.

“Each workshop investigated and developed visual literacy, mind mapping, the use of photographs as symbols and metaphors and photo-based documentary projects that investigate social issues in each student’s neighborhood,” Medina said in an email.

After the workshops took place, Medina gave his students point-and-shoot cameras to take photos that would ultimately compose their self-published online books.

For the final phase of the ongoing project, Medina said he plans on creating an online forum in which he will share the students’ work so people from across Los Angeles can gain an understanding of different cultures.

“It’s here where we will cross virtual borders and share the things that make our communities meaningful,” Medina said in an email. “This online space will be opened up to communities across Los Angeles. Together, we will provide a template for the people of greater Los Angeles to contribute to the continuing story of the Family of Man.”