RSBC Dorton College students partner with Canon Young People Programme for an inclusive storytelling workshop
Canon has partnered with RSBC Dorton College to deliver a bespoke Canon Young People Programme (CYPP) workshop, empowering visually impaired students to tell their stories through photography.
The immersive workshop brought together students with a wide range of visual impairments for a hands-on creative experience designed around accessibility, self-expression and inclusion to explore the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11: Reducing Inequalities.
Led by Canon Ambassador and multidisciplinary visual artist Elisa Iannacone, the session encouraged students to create portrait images centred on their favourite activities, using photography as a tool to communicate identity, emotion and personal narrative beyond traditional visual conventions.
Throughout the workshop, Elisa worked closely with each student to adapt photographic techniques to their individual needs, exploring alternative approaches such as touch, sound, texture and verbal storytelling to shape each portrait. The result was a deeply collaborative process that placed the students’ perspectives, choices and creativity at the heart of the image-making.
Elisa Iannacone said: “This workshop challenged the idea that seeing is the only way to experience or create an image. Working with these students reminded us that storytelling is multisensory, emotional and deeply human – and that everyone deserves the opportunity to express how they see the world, in their own way.”
By focusing on UNSDG 11, the workshop encouraged conversations around access, representation and equality, highlighting how inclusive creative spaces can challenge social barriers and create opportunities for underrepresented voices.
The workshop also welcomed Daniel Oluwatobi (db Captures), an award‑winning photographer and filmmaker, as a guest speaker to inspire and motivate the students. Daniel is partially sighted and lives with nystagmus – a condition that causes involuntary eye movement and affects visual clarity and depth perception. Drawing on his own experience, he spoke openly about navigating the creative industry with a visual impairment and how he has built a successful photography career by embracing emotion, perspective and storytelling over traditional ideas of ‘perfect’ vision.
Daniel Oluwatobi said: “I know first‑hand how powerful it is to hear from someone like you, doing what you love. Photography is about how you feel, how you interpret, and how you tell your story. I hope the workshop demonstrated to the students that their perspective is not a limitation, but a strength.”
Image description: A male delivering a talk, the RSBC logo behind him
Adam Pensotti, Head of Canon Young People Programme at Canon EMEA said: “This workshop with RSBC is a powerful example of how the Canon Young People Programme can adapt to meeting young people where they are. By placing accessibility and inclusion at the heart of this workshop, we’re demonstrating that creative education can play a real role in reducing inequality and empowering young people to show their creativity.”
The collaboration with RSBC and Dorton College forms part of Canon’s wider commitment to delivering meaningful social value through education, creativity and collaboration.
Edith Windsor‑Stokes, Principal at RSBC Dorton College, said: “Partnerships like this make a real difference to our students. The workshop was thoughtfully inclusive and inspiring, giving our learners the chance to explore creativity in ways that work for them, their confidence and self‑expression. Opportunities like this show our learners that their voices matter and that creativity can be accessible to everyone.”
Through the Canon Young People Programme, Canon supports young people globally by providing access to imaging technology, skills training and platforms for storytelling – ensuring creative opportunities are available to those who need them most. Visit here for more about the Canon Young People Programme: Empowering the next generation - Canon UK
Notes to editors
What is the Canon Young People Programme?
Storytellers need access to education and equipment so they can continue to learn and grow. The Canon Young People Programme provides opportunities that allow those that need it most, young people from deprived backgrounds and communities in developing regions, to document stories on the social and environmental issues that matter to them.
Through the Canon Young People Programme we’ve reached over 7,750 young participants across more than 30 countries, and working with over 50 charity partners, including Plan International and Wild Shots Outreach, across Europe, Middle East and Africa equipping young people in schools and communities with the skills, tools and platform they need to share their stories with the world and create new opportunities both for themselves and others in their communities.
About RSBC
Founded in 1838 by Thomas Lucas to teach blind children to read, RSBC is the leading national charity which supports blind and partially sighted children and young people, and their families, from birth to 25 years of age. RSBC’s aim is to help ensure that every blind and partially sighted young person has the skills and confidence to live their life without limits.
There are an estimated 37,000 blind and partially sighted children and young people in England and Wales, and every day, four more children are diagnosed with sight loss. The Royal Society for Blind Children is a charity registered in England and Wales (307892).
About Dorton College
RSBC Dorton College is our independent specialist college in the London Borough of Bromley. We offer day provision for 16 to 25-year-olds, and many of our students have additional needs. We’re the only independent specialist further education provider for vision impaired young people in London and the Southeast. We offer a wide range of courses, and a bespoke curriculum supported by a diverse range of trained staff. RSBC Dorton College is proud of its celebrated hybrid model of education, which seamlessly blends mainstream and specialist education to give young people “the best of both worlds”.