“Returning Swallows”
Photography Workshop

“Returning Swallows” is a photography project involving young girls who were born in China and adopted by families in the Bay Area. In 2006, Norma Quintana, a photographer and educator working in the tradition of social documentary, was invited to join a group of families on a special two-week cultural exchange trip to China organized by the POP’s Foundation and Bay Area Adoption Services. During the trip, she conducted a professional photography workshop with the girls hoping to help them capture the experience of returning to their homeland and facilitate their exploration of self, identity, and community.

The idea of this homeland tour was first developed by local businessman Kenneth Yeung, founder of the POP’s Foundation —a non-profit organization established to educate and support prospective adoptive families and orphaned children of China.

In order to honor this experience and recognize the girls’ talent, Quintana and curator Ann Trinca have organized an exhibition that includes thirty stunning black & white images captured by the students on their visits to such sites as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Hutongs of Beijing, the city of Chengdu, as well as venues closed to the public (the People’s Great Hall, the Diao Yu Tai State Guesthouse and some orphanages).

Also included will be a new group of portraits of the girls by Norma Quintana based on her “Forget Me Not” series, as well as maps of their Chinese birthplaces juxtaposed with their adopted Bay Area homes. The installation premiers at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco in Fall 2007. We are currently raising funds to help cover the costs of framing, installing, and promoting the exhibition as well as printing a small catalog. We hope to travel this exhibition throughout the country, eventually bringing it to Bejing, China.

Norma Quintana has lectured and conducted photography workshops with students in Napa, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Washington D.C. She believes in the power of photography to capture the imaginations of children and introduce them to a greater potential. Her hands-on approach to teaching photography allows young people to develop their skills and ”eye”. The workshops are individualized, intuitive and designed for students to use photography as a way to capture their experiences and foment cultural understanding.

Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, September 7 at 7:00 pm at the CCC.

See and listen to coverage of the Returning Swallows journey on China Radio International.

Read the SF Chronicle article, July 23, 2006.