Serge Giachetti sent me some of his images from his documentation of the Blackfeet Indian tribe in Montana a few days back, and asked for my support for his grant proposal.

It’s this grant, that promises 50 grand for the best dream assignment. You know the one.

Well, this first image up top knocked my socks off, so I looked at the others. I think there’s some real promise here. Here’s more about the project as Serge sees it going forward:

“Native American youth, like most adolescents, have it rough. But,whereas many kids face problems like how to gain popularity, passchemistry class, and make the football team, Native American teens facean additional and more weighty proposition: how do they hold onto therich culture of their elders and steer clear of the many social illsplaguing reservations? Many of the tribal elders view these as one andthe same question–to live according to the old ways of the tribe is toavoid the many pitfalls of life on the reservation. To them, hope forthe future lies in honoring the past.

I would like to explore and document these themes on my dream photoassignment by putting the youth of the tribe in a sort of visualdialogue with their elders. Culminating with both a book and multimediaproject, I plan to document the daily lives of Native American youth:their adolescent struggle and striving for individuality, as well astheir symbolic participation in old tribal ways. I will juxtapose thesedocumentary style photographs with portraits of tribal elders. In bookform, the elders will appear on opposing pages from the youth as ifthey are watching over them. In multimedia form, a combination of videoand stills will be backed by audio interviews from both the youth andthe elders discussing their hopes for the future of their tribe.”

I love all the roaming horses.

Check out Serge’s project and proposal here, and lend him your vote if you like what you see.