I love how connected the photojournalism world is. A few weeks back, I interviewed Chicago Tribune photojournalist,Scott Strazzante for his project, “Common Ground” (which, by the way was funded). Following his Twitter stream, I noticed a Tweet about Brenda Ann Kenneally‘s project, “Upstate Girls.”

Figuring he knew her, I sent him an email requesting him to introduce us.

A few days later, I heard from Brenda and so, what we have here is a frank chat about her nine-year project that follows the lives of two adolescent girls in Troy, New York. The project is now a collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology and The Visual Studies Workshop.

Please do watch and listen to Brenda, as she describes how and why she started this personal photography project:

“The Upstate Girls Project is not only a document of the America that we all share with these women, but more importantly a story of the emotional connections that are universal to being human.”

It probably seems that week after week, I am here asking you all to support the work of yet another documentary photographer. The fact is this – newspapers and magazines are flexing their accounting muscles and shuttering entire photo departments or downsizing them to a point where community stories (that's stories about us) aren't narrated anymore.

If you find the work of Scott Strazzante or Brenda Kenneally personally moving, then step up and do something about it. These two (and trust me there are many more) are so passionate about pursuing long-term photography projects that by doing so tehy bring meaning into the lives of their subjects, for themselves and to the community as a whole, when their stories are shared with us all.

Brenda has 16 days to go before her Kickstarter caampaign closes. She has a little over $7,000 to raise to hire a web designer that will bring these gutsy stories to all of us online.

However small or big, can I count on you to make a contribution?

When Jens Lennartsson, a Swedish travel and commercial photographer turned 30, he struck upon an idea to create a movement around the world that would empower children in some of the poorest countries in the world to tell their own stories.

Visually.

Jens is joined by Sara Hansson, also from Sweden, in this new global photography project called: Eye Am.

“By doing two week photo workshops, we teach kids in developing countries how to photograph, giving them the opportunity to show their life from their perspective, instead of just letting media tell their sometimes flat and generalizing story. And together with you, we create a more realistic view of the world.”

Jens and Sara sat down with me yesterday to talk about their project. Please check out this video below:

Lennartsson and Hansson are seeking to raise $33,000 in the next 12 days for this project. They want to be able to buy 20 cameras (and accessories like memory cards) and also computers that these young photographers can use in the field to process their images. These devices will be used in all three locations – 1) Renl, Ukraine, 2) Addis, Ethiopia and 3) Nairobi, Kenya

So, here's why this project appealed to me and I am helping Jens and Sara spread the word.

First off, I am from India and from what I have seen in the nearly 45 years of my existence, the images of India seen by those in the US are largely by non-Indians. While it's true they brings their unique perspectives and skill sets to capture images of either daily life or strife, there is nothing like reading, hearing or seeing the story unfold from the perspective of a local inhabitant. There are nuances that outsiders may simply miss that highlights the actual situation on the ground.

After years of being offered only a one-sided view of a situation, isn't it time we saw the world from a different, and thus, enriched perspective? By asking children to take part, we can be hopeful that their sense of spontaneity and living in the moment will garner us a fresh look into their lives and perhaps more importantly give those children a way to boost their confidence and appreciate themselves.

Whether it is the Ukraine, Ethiopia or Kenya, these kids are going to have an incredible ride into discovering who they are, for themselves. This project appeals to me because I am a father of two young boys who, given the opportunity, love to express themselves in sports, music and the visual arts. As a photographer, this is a no-brainer: we need to foster visual literacy among our young so that they in turn can continue to the tradition of recording and interpreting the world around them.

Learn more about this project and to support it, check out Eye Am's IndieGoGo's campaign page. I ask that you take a moment now to go to that page and give what you can.

The series of images you will see here are by Roycin D'souza. He is a 20-year old photographer based in Mumbai. While he is also very passionate about photographing musicians in concert (he has photographed over 350 concerts), he started #TAD365 when he felt “the need of shooting more portraits of regular people from a diverse background.”

I've always been jumping around on Twitter and associating this with Twitter made so much more sense since the community gave back to me much more than I could expect.

Since June 2011, he has photographed over 285 people for the project ranging from advertising creatives, to celebrities, writers, teachers, food bloggers and chefs. Roycin quit his day job to travel to five cities in India to photograph these Twitter personalities. He says he spent everything he earned in the last 2 years to make this project a success. He adds, “I'm almost close to a millon hits for the project (on Flickr itself) and I'm travelling to Dubai tomorrow for a month to shoot and meet more people.”

“The project has a very raw element to it. I use a DIY lighting setup and travel all around the city on my Honda Activa (scooter). The people I meet are very different from each other and the shoots are even more impromptu depending on the ideas and the available time.”

Check out Roycin's blog, Facebook page and of course the #TAD365 project as well.

Do you know of other photographers working on personal projects? Feel free and introduce them to Tiffinbox. I would love to hear from them and highlight their work. Thank you!