About Edge Media
Edge Media is the media arts education component of Ijo Arts Media Group. We partner with schools, non-profits, government agencies to create projects that allow youth to explore the important issues of the day while learning how to create quality video, photography and print media. Edge Media projects are frequently implemented in cooperation with teachers in classroom and extracurricular settings.
We want to help nurture future generations of citizens that have the creative, technical and critical thinking skills to use even the most common media creation tools to positively impact our society.
On average we conduct at least two media arts classes annually at a local school or community arts center and a large project with a partner organization bi-annually. Contact us to learn more about Edge Media and how to bring a project to your organization or school.
A Brief History
Edge Media was created in 2007 by Inye Wokoma. After serendipitously falling into the world of youth arts education in 1998, Inye found he had a passion for teach media arts that matched his creative passion. His first job teaching photography proved to be his most challenging and most rewarding. When he accepted an invitation to serve as a photography instructor for young men charged with felony offenses in a Georgia juvenile corrections facility he discovered what youth could accomplish when given a sincere opportunity to express themselves.
Contrary to his initial expectations the young men were extremely disciplined in class and with the equipment. They were enthusiastic and exceptionally creative giving in their limiting circumstances. Working with those young men solidified his commitment to sharing his knowledge and talents with young people eager to learn.
In 1998 and 1999 Inye Wokoma was contracted by the Wholistic Stress Control Institute to teach photography for their S.I.M.B.A. program. An acronym for Saturday Institute for Manhood and Brotherhood Actualization, the program brought weekly life, health and stress management classes into Georgia correctional facilities for juvenile felony offenders. Creative arts and expressions formed part of the stress management component of the weekly curriculum.
As the photography instructor Inye worked with the young men as the learned the technical and creative aspects of photography. Working in teams an exercising patience, discipline and commitment as tools for mastering their photographic lessons were a core tenet of the class. The class was limited to specific areas of the facility thus the key challenge for the young men was the re-visualization of their environment as one rich with visual and narrative possibilities.
The photos in this small gallery represent some of the images taken by the young men during the classes. Names are omitted and only photos with non-recognizable faces are shown to preserve individual confidentiality.
