“It’s been quite a year,” says Sam Powers, echoing the thoughts of, well, just about everyone. But for Sam, ‘quite a year’ involves working with young people in some of the most challenging places in the world. He and his brother Jack opened the first Lens on Life media lab in 2018, teaching photography and computer literacy skills to young people in Goma, a region of Democratic Republic of Congo which has been ravaged by conflict.

In the years since, they have substantially extended the reach of Lens on Life and the organisation is now working in partnership with the Canon Young People Programme (CYPP) in Cameroon and refugee camps in Iraq and Jordan, as well as their ongoing work in Goma. And this, of course, means that they and their local teams are committed to supporting their students one hundred percent, through thick and thin.

“Everywhere we work, we can't anticipate what the next month is going to look like,” explains Sam. “We can't find ourselves in a dynamic in which we decide that we leave this operation and pivot to the next one.” In a turbulent world, it is understandable that many NGOs need to continually move to where the need is greatest, but for Lens on Life, Sam says, “that’s not the mission we have developed”.

He cites Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp as an example. “It was focal point for a very long time. But it has recently disappeared from the global narrative. So, there are 80,000 Syrians in the camp, and every time we go back, we see fewer and fewer NGOs because they have to go to Ukraine, they have to go to Sudan… I think ultimately, we need to keep doing what we're doing, because others are leaving.”

Creating consistency for their students is key because so much of their lives are beset with instability and volatility. In Goma, for example, the Lens on Life school is constantly under threat from everything: from electricity failures to armed conflict to, unbelievably, lava flow from nearby active volcanoes. “At any point, we might have to shut down for a couple of months,” explains Sam. “And we’re glad that Canon has been there with us through that journey. Facing these issues together has been really important in our relationship with CYPP. It’s shown us how similar our approaches are, and how we’re both invested for long term growth.”

This growth will no doubt see Lens on Life taking their programme to even more countries in the future, but even at the scale they currently operate, with over 100 students attending six-month long courses, each relationship with every young photographer seems deeply personal to the brothers. Successes are triumphs against incredible adversity – and how can they not be, when you understand how high the odds are stacked against their students?

“I can't count the number of stories… it's hard,” Sam says. He is an extraordinarily articulate man, but on this he struggles to find the words. “You know, it’s indescribable, I think, to someone who hasn't spent time in these regions. Escaping conflict and fleeing on foot, stories of domestic violence, of incarceration, abuse, war...”

“Every time I go back to any of these places, there's someone lost, a new tragedy, a new trauma. And it reaffirms the need for us to stay and continue to try to integrate our students into parts of the world that can give them opportunity.”

One such triumph is a student from Yaoundé, Cameroon. The violence and displacement there goes largely unreported by mainstream media, but the atrocities are very real. This young man lost his entire family to rebel violence, fleeing on foot into the bush to survive. “He said himself that he was completely lost,” recalls Sam. “But he found his way to Lens on Life, has learnt French and earnt a scholarship to a local university. Now he is a teacher at Lens on Life in Cameroon.”

Another former student is now an award-winning correspondent. Others have been hired by NGOs to document their work to share with the world. And while the primary goal is to open doors for these young creatives, Sam also views Lens on Life as a means for their graduating photographers to begin controlling the narrative of what is happening around them. They have been so used to seeing visiting journalists capturing the world they know better than anyone. Now they can present their perspective. “And our students are getting paid now,” he stresses. “They have livelihoods. And it's very important to see these concrete results.”

With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals guiding them, every student who takes part in the Canon Young People Programme with Lens on Life can see how the difficulties they face every day relate to global topics of concern. Sam has seen these issues directly shape the kinds of photographers his students become, and this is deeply inspiring for teachers and classes alike. “Because Lens on Life is me, Jack and the community we’ve built,” he says. “Having the Canon Young People Programme as our partner incorporates a level of connectivity and global relevance that sustains our students’ ability to enter the international marketplace. Ultimately, it has enriched our ability to make a difference.”

Learn more about Lens on Life and the Canon Young People Programme.