We were happy to receive over 160 rolls of film from our students who went on the Vanishing Point trip. We've just processed all of the film and the students captured some amazing photographs! These images will be posted soon and many of them will be a part of the final exhibition at The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film.

Slideshow of Trip

Student Comment

This trip has been an amazing experience and I’m glad I could have the pleasure of seeing all the students and teachers and the way they do there daily routines. For the most part, everything was alike in ways of the school rules and daily school activities. Out of school however was a different story; they enjoyed going to resturaunts and doing art and activities taboo to us students. We enjoyed some lowcountry bbq, and a delicious meal regionally called “chicken bog”

Kelsey

The experience on this trip has been amazing, I am glad that every student from Olympic and Vance High School had a chance to enjoy this trip. Traveling around eastern North Carolina and seeing the creativity in other teenagers like us was a positive lookout on life. Vanishing Point is a wonderful organization for everybody I give them a big THANKS for coming into my class and given us students a camera to see a creative world in each lenses. I learned so much about photography and students in my class that I never thought I would have known, I will look back on this trip and think of all the fun I had and smile. =)
- Kelsey Rollins

Ayana says...

This trip has taught me to be open minded and learn how to adapt to any situation that I am put into. I didn’t know much about photography before this class and it has such a vague meaning. photography can really mean anything you feel or want it to portray. It is also a type of art. This experience with vanishing point is a wonderful idea to help kids bond and get to know and meet different people. I am proud to say that I have participated in such big project as every student should feel. From the overall experience I discovered that I do have a little passion inside for photography and I am glad ms. Jen was there to give us an idea because now I can say I know how to a great pictures that displays a massage to the audience.
Thank you
Ayana Pennant

Brittany on Photography

Learning about photography on this trip has been a great life experience for me. It has taught me that photography means so much more than a picture. It has taught me that a photo tells a story about life or can have a hidden meaning. I was never into photography before this trip and now I am living, breathing, and talking about it. I have discovered a new hobby for me that I am in love with. Thank you.
Brittany Elmore

Angelina speaks

How to start this off- this trip for one has been an exciting, exilerating experience. There are moments that happened that are the types where you just had to be there. From going into a knee deep lake, Lake Wakamaw; or as we call it, Lake Whack-a-Mole, to the rollerskating rink which later turned into a dance party. We traveled to the beach and made pictures in the sand and had fun even if it was pretty cold. Bonds were formed on this trip and hopefully they will not be broken when we return home. I believe every one has a new perspective on people, life, and places. I know I wont forget this trip. To live, to hear, to see, to taste, to touch-to breathe these moments; you just really had to be there.
Angelina Diasparra

Lauren R.

This trip has been a learning experience that I am grateful for. Some of the things we have seen and done, I feel like I would not have been able to do if it were not for Vanishing Point. We have met some great people and visited some beautiful sights. I am honored and appreciate The Light Factory for choosing our class for this project. It is something I will remember for a lifetime. I can’t wait to see our work on display!
Lauren Rogers

Tara Speaks

This trip has been a great experience for me. I have got to see so many new things. Currituck, Columbus, and all the places in between were different but beautiful. The beach and lakes were my favorite part, they are so natural and peaceful. I also conquered my fear of heights, and climbed the Currituck lighthouse. I was so scared but I did it, and that is something I will never forget. I also enjoyed visiting the other schools. It is always good to meet new people and this trip has allowed me to meet people I never would have had the chance to meet without it. I hope I made some friends out of it. The best part of this experience for me however, is gaining my new love for photography. That is something I will have for the rest of my life. I am so happy our class received this opportunity, so thank you Light Factory!
Tara Lafferty

Lauren's reaction

I am really glad that our class got the opportunity to have this experience. I was really interesting getting to meet new people and explore different parts of our home state. Going to the Outer Banks was my favorite part of the trip. I went through 5 roles of film while we were there because it was so beautiful and peaceful. Before this trip I really didn’t know much about photography. I learned a lot on this trip not only from the teachers but also from my fellow students. I had a great time and am thankful for those who organized this great experience for us!

Susanny writes...

One thing that I love about Currituck and Columbus county is how rural the place is. Even though you have to drive to get to everything, its nice. I guess having to do that all the time teaches you to have patience. Lots of patience. And I was raised in Florida, so I am kind of used to all of this empty space, seeing nothing but green. I don’t know how to explain it, but there is something very serene about those counties, I’m not talking about the landscape or the antique buildings. There is something about community, how people kinda just take it easy around here. I am a very busy person, always doing something if I’m not doing something else. I miss having to just get up, go to school, talk to friends, badmouth about the classes and the work, do my homework, and then get out and hang out with friends. Now, I just do all sorts of stuff, and I don’t even bother to appreciate my surroundings.
Of course, the reason why I am traveling to these places is because of Vanishing Point. Vanishing Point is a project that was set by The Light Factory, a museum of photography in Charlotte. In this project, we are to take pictures and write about certain themes and basically learn about photography. And what I loved about this project is that it allowed to express in a certain way that made me really comfortable: photography. In photography, you don’t have to use words. You don’t have to worry about using the right punctuation, or having to use the right words to express what you are feeling because you know, there are just some things words cannot describe well enough. Like I can’t describe very well how going to these counties and these lakes and the beaches make me feel, but in the picture, you can see it. You can feel yourself also. I am not a shy person, but I don’t always say the smartest things. I don’t really know how to express my feelings through words, but now I believe that I found a new outlet, One example I have is when I went to the schools in Whiteville and Elizabeth City. In Whiteville and Elizabeth City, everything was very rural, very small, and very far apart. But the difference was that Whiteville was very old, very traditional. In Elizabeth City, everything was very new, and big and spacious. But I think that I could relate to Elizabeth City more because it reminds me a lot like where I was raised in Florida, a city called Plantation. The schools are similar, and so is the town. I took a lot of pictures relating to these similarities not because they look good, but because they remind me of something.
I took some pictures of the little things in the lake and the beaches. Like the seagulls that flew over the beach, or the vegetation that grew in the marshes. I also took pictures of my classmates with the scenery. I also took pictures of the schools and the interesting things about them.
But I didn’t only take pictures and talk to people about the counties. We also did a lot of fun things in this trip that I haven’t done in a while or at all. We went to the skating rink in Elizabeth City and I had a great time trying not to fall on my butt and I had a great time on the lake with the kids From Whiteville. We got to see the light house and the wildlife center near the light house. I had a lot of fun and I also got to remember again simple life can be. But personally, I can’t wait to get to charlotte and see all my friends again.

Susanny Acosta

Shannon

This trip has been a great experience for me. It was interesting to visit West Columbus and Currituck County High schools. Since they aren’t in the city like we are, they do things like go to the beach or the skate park. They don’t have malls and movie theaters near them, so they have find other ways to entertain themselves. It was also nice to meet the students from Vance who are in a photography class, and see their work. We were able to learn about the themes that they were working with and it helped me with ideas for mine. I learned a lot about North Carolina and its people. I am very glad to have had this opportunity and I enjoyed it very much. –Shannon Wright

Terri and Natalia

The lake was so cool but the beach was way better. Even though I got wet a little more than I wished. I met some cool new people who are really into art. It was so fun to go rollerskating with them, and getting a lot of burses. And even tough I hardly got any sleep and couldn’t stop laughing the whole trip. -Terri


Well, to start off I am very thankful to the people who put this trip together and made it possible for us to be here. Right at this moment, I am sitting on the bus on our way back, reflecting on everything that has happened over the past few days. Personally, It has been a great and once in a lifetime opportunity for me to see things I didn’t even know existed. I am so used to saying that I want to travel the world and explore things I didn’t know or have never seen and well, I now know that it isn’t just Europe or South American but in our own state just a few hours away where I can and was able to experience new things and meet different people and feel a different atmosphere. In photography, I feel that we have learned. The class at Olympic is not a photography class, so this was a completely different experience for us, for me personally, I love taking pictures, but I really am not that good in the sense that I don’t know how to put the camera in the right place, but through this trip I was not only learning from the teachers but learning from some of the student’s whose true passion is photography and it was a great learning experience as well. I loved the trip and the places we saw were amazing. Can’t wait to see everyone’s pictures!!!! - Natalia S.`

Skating Rink, of Doom

So Logan Rollins told himself he wouldn’t skate at this rink. He told himself no one could get him to do it. But then he let someone convince him. Logan stated that if he fell once he was done for a lifetime. Logan went out there, fell FOUR times and messed up his thumb, but he finished one lap. Usually by that point he would’ve broken his face again. Ok four falls is four life times. That’s about 280 years. So I’ll try skating again when I’m 297. Oh the kids from the other school, made no effort to talk to most of us. Awwwwwwkward,,,,

Amanda And Lauren

Traveling all over North Carolina has been a great experience. I feel like I have gotten to see and do things I may not have been able to do unless I had came on this trip. Getting see other students and the way they live their lives has been eye opening. It teaches you to accept new things and appreciate what you have. Capturing all of the emotions and adventures on film is the best part. One of the most different things down here in Curituk county is that it takes you an hour to get anywhere!

Susanny speaks

Susanny Acosta, also from Olympic community of schools. I believe that the towns were beautiful and very serene. The people are very welcoming and have a good sense of humor. The skating rink was fun and I had a great time trying not to fall on my butt when I tried when I tried to skate. I also had a great time in the end of the day when we all danced in the middle of the rink. I am very grateful that I was able to experience this. thank you.

Natalia

Hey guys,
This is Natalia from Renaissance at Olympic Community of Schools. I am very thankful to everyone who made this trip possible. It has been a very eye opening experience, we have been able to see clear differences in our cities/towns and for me personally I have realized that I ,do indeed, love charlotte and should appreciate everything it has to offer, even though we don't have the beautiful Lake Waccamau, or live in the city where the famous grave digger is. It has been a great, once in a lifetime, experience and I am so glad I came and so glad WE were the schools chosen to participate in this trip. Today we have one more exciting day, can't wait to see what's in store!!

Mr. Vitale Speaks

Mr. Vitale here... (one of the teachers from Charlotte). It's funny how such a small distance in miles translates into a world of difference. Yesterday we visited the Currituk County High School and saw where the students of coastal North Carolina met. (I say met as there is but a single high school for the entire county and students have to travel as far as an hour in different directions to attend, some by water, some by land.- Paul Revere would have been overwhelmed) The band was impressive and very friendly, allowing us to move about photograhping them as they practiced. Based on student comments, I fear the band's efforts were more successful than the football team's, but win-loss records tend to run in cycles anyway. They'll be back. The school was beautiful and the local teachers made us feel quite welcome in a way the graveyard in the front of the building did not.
Fortunately, we had an opportunity to share our photographic compositions and our students were intruiged by the photos of local students. Charlotte is an inland city so the beach and water themes caught their attention. Today, we are hoping to visit a historic lighthouse and my sincere hope is that nobody drowns getting the "perfect" picture. Thanks to all those who made the trip possible.

Currituck County

We made it to Currituck!! Currituck County High School is about 1200 students versus Columbus County High Schools 600. Last night we experienced the local skating rink and skate park and visited the old courthouse. Today we are visiting a Light House and spending the day creating art.

Friday in Currituck

Kids got up on time and ate breakfast. Everything was on schedule UNTIL a student sat on their glasses. We had to stop at CVS to get them fixed.

Took a couple of hours to get there, so we spent the time journaling about our experiences in Columbus.

Currituck is much bigger than Columbus was. We are now going to share with the students here.

Looking so forward to the ROLLER SKATING party tonight!

We saw an alligator!

Thursday - Kids Send Off!

Charlotte students left Thursday morning bright and early for Eastern North Carolina! Thanks so much to John Stinson of Stinson Charter for carting us all that way! They arrived at Columbus High School at 11:22AM and promptly got a lesson on the entire region to work speaking about their photos.

They finished sharing their work at 1:15 or so and ate CHICKEN BOG! What is chicken bog? It's a chicken and rice dish that's supposed to be mushy in texture. By all accounts it was pretty tasty!

They wrapped up Thursday afternoon and took photographs at Lake Wacamaw and got a tour of the Forestry Museum and wrapped up the day with Barbeque. YAY FOOD!

Thanks to Shutterfly!

Special thanks to Eric Kleman and the rest of the Shutterfly family for rising early Thursday morning for TLF's Vanishing Point student send-off. TLF also received a $10,000 check from the Shutterfly Foundation who has graciously supported TLF Outreach for two years in a row. Check out Shutterfly: www.shutterfly.com.

Olympic Renaissance School Pictures

Students below responded to the assignment The Road as an Issue and a Metaphor.