Life through their lens: The power of child photography

Photography can be a way for children to express themselves in order to heal from trauma. It can be a form of play. And it can be a tool for young people to interpret their world, using the camera to capture the people, places and things that are important to them.

“UNICEF promotes children’s voices in all forums,” says UNICEF Photography Editor Ellen Tolmie. “Photography is an excellent way for children to express what they know about themselves and communicate that knowledge to their peers and to the world.”

UNICEF first used cameras to help children traumatized by the 2004 tsunami. Since then, it has conducted numerous child photography workshops around the globe.

‘Eye See II’ photo project

One such workshop spotlighted the views of 160 young people affected by the 2005 earthquake in the districts of Mansehra and Muzaffarabad in northern Pakistan. Most of the workshop participants had never before held a camera.

The students first learned the basics of photography, including how to hold the camera and frame a composition. They then ventured into their communities to document their changed world and define their priorities for rebuilding.

“We need a mosque, a house and a refrigerator,” said one 12-year-old girl. Others wanted fresh water, playgrounds, schools, hospitals and a library. The‘Eye See II’ photo project resulted in an exhibition that travelled all over the world.

Confidence and critical skills

Through photography, young people can develop critical and interpretive skills, and gain confidence in their ability to create ‘good images’ – defined not only in terms of aesthetics, but also in how they choose to represent themselves and their lives.

In one UNICEF photography workshop held in New Delhi, India, 10 children aged 7 to 16, most with physical disabilities, were asked to document something that was very important to them. Most chose a parent or sibling, but one child photographed a beautiful sunset as it faded behind a distant building.

Tom Pietrasik, the photographer who led the workshop, helped the children mount an exhibition of their work. He encouraged them to debate why some photos worked better than others, and helped them appreciate their own ability to communicate through their images.

A healing effect

Photography opens the door for children to frame their own stories, crafting a visual space that is uniquely theirs. This can be especially important in times of trauma.

For example, a UNICEF photo workshop in the Russian Federation city of Beslan helped children express their continuing sorrow and pain one year after the armed takeover of their school. Many had been hostages, and all had lost friends in the attack. 

“All year long they heard how the world spoke about them,” said a psychologist who worked with the children. “Now they can tell the world about themselves and how they feel.”

Indeed, the power of photography lies in its ability to create new perceptions. But photography alone can’t accomplish this. Only when adults work with and learn from children is the healing power of photography – or any communication – unleashed.

Photo Essays: Images by Children

UNICEF and Perspectiva organise a photography workshop for children with disabilities

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Home Alone - Photography gives strength and comfort to Nicaraguan children left behind

From participatory photography to empowerment for social change

In Nicaragua, as in many low-income countries, children are commonly left on their own at home, responsible for taking care of younger siblings and doing other domestic tasks while their parents and older siblings are working. These children risk having their rights violated. They often live in poverty, without regular guidance, protection or care from an adult caretaker. Lacking any adults or peers to talk to causes strong feelings of loneliness and isolation for many children.

CrozzCom, an NGO based in Spain, started working with such children in Nicaragua within the Home Alone project with an initial photography workshop in 2005. By making it possible for children to give voice to their experiences, the project creates awareness and promotes key changes and interventions suggested by the children themselves.

How to become a child photographer

At the first workshop, 14 girls and 18 boys were provided with disposable cameras and introduced to the basics of photography to help them use the cameras on their own. Disposable cameras were chosen because they are relatively cheap and easy to replace if they are lost, stolen or broken.

By taking photographs, the participants gained an enhanced sense of self, becoming the protagonists both behind and in front of the camera. Many of the child photographers engaged other family members to take photos of them doing chores. This encouraged the children to focus on their own lives.

Telling their stories in interviews

All of the workshop participants also had a chance to express themselves through individual video interviews. The photographs they had taken provided common ground to which both the interviewer and the child could refer during the interview. Taken together, the children’s photographs and the footage from their interviews generated audio-visual narratives about their lives.

One fascinating aspect of this participatory approach to child photography has been its empowerment value. By visually documenting a normal day and then talking about the photographs, the children have become more aware of their contribution to their families – which also has made them feel important. Most of these children had never been asked about their opinions or feelings before.

Never home alone again

In addition, the child photographer method produces a tangible record that seems to be of great importance to children – not only as a memory to keep after the project ends but also as a source of strength to which the child can turn when needed.

“It gives me company when I am feeling alone,” said one 13-year-old girl, describing how she feels when she looks at her photo album.

Child photographers, child researchers

The child photographer method encourages children to reflect on their own situation and increases their concern and awareness about other youths living in similar circumstances. In an interview, a 12-year-old girl participant in the project indicated that she had been talking to other children in her community about being left home alone. Based on her and other children’s wishes to interview their peers, CrozzCom developed an activity for child researchers.

In this activity, the children themselves selected others to interview. Participants were divided into smaller groups according to the communities where they lived. Together with a leader, the groups visited selected households with a question guide developed in advance. Each group received one disposable camera, a notebook and pencils to document the visits and the interviews.

Opportunities for sustainable change

Participatory photography has given these children the strength to talk about the harsh conditions they face. It has bolstered their self-esteem and sense of identity, as well as their ability to analyze problems and develop potential solutions.

This approach is not just a matter of giving children cameras and then exhibiting the photographs to others. Instead, participatory photography offers a range of opportunities for involving children in projects and programmes that directly concern their lives. Besides being fun, it provides opportunities for people, young and old, to meet and exchange views and opinions – a prerequisite for achieving any sustainable change in society.

For more information, contact:

Lena Wall
The Home Alone project
CrozCom
C/Mayor 16 piso 1º
08960 Sant Just Desvern
Barcelona
ESPAÑA
+34 93 3716811
E-mail: crozzcom@telefonica.net;
homealone@telefonica.net; crozzcom@yahoo.es

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Kids with Cameras: Photo workshops start a chain reaction

Kids with Cameras (KWC) is a non-governmental organization that teaches the art of photography to marginalized children in communities around the world. KWC founder Zana Briski first became involved in the lives of children in Calcutta, India in 1998, when she was photographing their mothers who worked as prostitutes in the city’s red-light district.

Fascinated with the images her camera captured, the children were eager to learn to take pictures themselves. It was at that moment that Zana had the idea of teaching them photography and seeing the world through their eyes. This meant overcoming the obstacles placed in her way by brothel owners, pimps, police, local politicians, and organized crime syndicate.

Zana founded KWC to inspire like-minded artists and photographers to share their passions and talents. KWC chooses workshop leaders based on their exceptional talent, their commitment and their connection to a particular community – and together they select locations for the workshops. Since starting in Calcutta nine years ago, KWC has held workshops in Jerusalem, Haiti and Cairo.

First lessons in Calcutta

Zana held weekly photography workshops in Calcutta between 2000 and 2003. There the children learned camera basics, lighting, composition, point-of-view development, editing and narrative sequencing. Equipped with inexpensive point-and-shoot 35mm cameras, the children produced incredible work. Their images were explosions of color: self-portraits, family pictures, street scenes and stunning tableaus of Bengali life.

Working with the children, Zana saw how photography allowed them to be creative, build self-esteem and have a voice. Through exhibitions and the book and documentary film ‘Born into Brothels’, these children’s voices were heard. The photo workshops were the starting point for them to build on opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

“It’s a magical process for everyone involved. It’s a wonderful opportunity now that media it’s so accessible to everybody,” says Zana. “Especially [for] young people, because often they are overlooked, photography is a very empowering tool.”

In order to help more children from Calcutta's red-light district, KWC has been raising money to develop a safe house specifically for the children of prostitutes, giving them an opportunity to learn, thrive and lead future generations.

Haiti unmasked

In Haiti's troubled capital, Port-au-Prince, an estimated 300,000 children are in domestic servitude. Children leave their destitute or ill-fated households to go work for a host family, hoping for a better future. Tragically, they are often exploited with unpaid workdays, neglect, abuse and a denied childhood.

In 2005, Gigi Cohen, the KWC project director in Haiti, taught photography to 12 children chosen from Foyer Maurice Sixto, a school for child domestic workers located in Carrefour, south of Port-au-Prince. Under her guidance, they were able to document their lives, express themselves and simply be children rather than labourers.

"These impressive images mirror Haiti, beyond its sadness, bravely showing beauty, creativity and joy,” Ms. Cohen explains. The images also serve as a public testament to the lives of Haiti’s most invisible members. Their work was exhibited in Haiti in 2006 and will soon be compiled and published in book form.

Beyond the walls of Jerusalem

Jerusalem's Old City lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And while the fighting continues, children are being reared in an environment of violence and hate.

KWC’s ‘Beyond the Wall’ project was designed to encourage dialogue and connect communities through the viewpoints of the children. In 2004 and 2005, 12 Israeli and 12 Palestinian children photographed the Old City, bringing their individual perspectives to its ever-present strife. Although the two groups did not meet, each side was exposed to the other through their photos. At the project's close, one child from each group discussed the work together. The photos are currently being exhibited across the US.

Around the world, KWC shares the vision and voices of marginalized children through exhibitions, books, websites and film. It is also committed to furthering children’s general education by selling their prints and linking with local organizations to provide scholarships. The ultimate goal is to help children believe in the validity and power of their own perspectives, both within and beyond the camera’s lens.

For more information, contact:

Kids with Cameras
341 Lafayette Street
Suite 4407
New York, NY  10012
Tel/Fax (646) 213-1333
Email: kids@kids-with-cameras.org
Website: kids-with-cameras.org

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