Students at the Tree of Life Public Charter School spent 4 weeks learning about documentary photography and how to tell stories through images. They focused on the Anacostia River Watershed project as their subject. The students documented their weekly trips to the Anacostia River, where they participated in river cleanup and learned about the issues and problems that plague the river. Most importantly, the students learned how to protect the environment around them.

Their photographs show both the negative aspects of the river – the abundance of trash in the river and in the surrounding park – and the animals and flowers that live and grow in the area despite the current state of pollution. The juxtaposition of the positive and negative images shows the present state of the area and the possibility of future improvements to the environment.