Paraty em Foco was born along with a social action: the photography workshops of the project “Jovens do ITAE” (Youth from ITAE - Instituto Trilha das Artes e Educação), which have occurred since the first edition of the Festival. The course is coordinated by the creators of the event, Giancarlo Mecarelli and Maxime Delmotte, and promotes cultural training in the photography field among the young people of Paraty’s community. Throughout the year, students learn how to photograph and discover the work of great photographers. Moreover, since its first edition, the Festival organisers allocate part of the amount raised in the Auction to the ITAE project. These resources have already been used for a variety of improvements in the institute; among them is the construction of a sports court and a cafeteria.

Over the years, Mecarelli and Maxime extended their action through the Casa Escola na Ilha das Cobras, a school that was conceived in a partnership with the Secretary for Education and the Cairuçu NGO. Lectures and courses take place at the school. Through the photographic perspective, our aim is to encourage young people to pay attention to what is happening in their surroundings, considering both positive aspects of their daily lives that go unnoticed and those that are out of place: streets with garbage everywhere, mistreated animals, or a dilapidated wall. When we “open our eyes” to the world, we seek to help create citizens who are connected to the construction of a more harmonic day-to-day.