Shootback (Hardcover)

~ Lana Wong (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Shootback puts basic point-and-shoot cameras into the hands of 32 teenage boys and girls from Mathare, Nairobi, one of Africa's largest slums. This book documents the extraordinary results: provocative, compelling images and hand-written words which reveal unexpected sides of these teenager's lives. The photographs speak eloquently of friends, family life, football fever and the harsh realities of everyday life in the slums with hope, an infectious humor and a disarming sense of honesty which shakes us into new perspectives on the developing world. Edited by documentary photographer Lana Wong and published with the support of the Ford Foundation, this visceral photographic collage challenges traditional tourist images of Africa and uses photography as a truly democratic art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Booth-Clibborn (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861541325
• ISBN-13: 978-1861541321
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,380,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shootback: candid, challenging and inspiring, March 22, 2000

By	Owen Willis (Halifax, Canada) - See all my reviews

Having myself written academically on Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), the organization out of which this initiative originated, I am thrilled that Shootback: Photos by Kids from the Nairobi Slums has appeared on the North American website of amazon.com. This is an absorbing and thought-provoking book that challenges the way we (North Americans) view the world. A lot of hard work has gone into this labor of love by Lana Wong and her brave band of photographers, and it shows.

MYSA, by anyone's standards, is a remarkable organization, and this is a remarkable book. Seldom is the dictum: "A picture is worth a thousand words" more appropriate. Shootback provides a candid window into hard places and hard times, but never loses hope, because it is framed through the eyes and described in the words of young people. The book is far more than the sum total of its photographs. Rarely do slum dwellers -- even less the children of the slum -- get to tell us the story of their lives and communities. Shootback therefore provides an insider's view of a slum community with all its energy and resilience. I heartily recommend a wonderful book. Prepare to be both troubled and inspired!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible sana, May 28, 2000

By	Molly (U.S.) - See all my reviews

Shootback is an awesome book. I spent the last 5 months in Kenya going to school and it is the only way that one can truely understand the horrors of the slums of a third world country. These kids who live there are being given an oppertunity that they never would have gotten otherwise. They get the chance to share with the world and reach people who might be able to make a difference for them. This is no ordinary touristy book about the incredible country of Kenya, this shows the way that many of it's people live. Shootback shares the inside of the slums like nothing else. A normal tourist couldn't go there, let alone bring a camera there. I want to say thanks to the author and creator of the Shootback ministry. You help people see the real side of Kenya.

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in the Mathare Valley, December 26, 2008

By	Thelma R. Latimer (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book because I was going to the Mathare Valley as a missionary and wanted to share with others what the experience was like. The book does a great job of depicting life as it is in the Mathare Valley in Nariboi, Kenya.