My Crew
A few weeks back I had the opportunity to speak to a very small class of Chicago Public School kids about photography. What makes this class so special is that all of the students have varying backgrounds and abilities. Combine this with the fact that they are inner city school kids who don’t have every opportunity at their fingertips, and I was excited to let them explore a new realm.
I had a very simple plan —give a brief description how a camera works, talk about why I love photography, and set these kids loose to have fun. We handed out seven disposable cameras that the children were able to take the Museum of Science and Industry for their “travel photography” assignment. The kids had a blast at the museum and from all accounts really enjoyed taking photos, as was evidenced by 200 plus images! Sure, many of the images were a little rough, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to give these children another outlet to express themselves, and opportunity that they might not have otherwise had, a chance to share their experiences with the world (quote: “This is going to be on the internet?! Awesome!”), and most of all encourage them to explore.
A few last words:
Many of us are faced with challenges in life whether they are physical, emotional, a short-term or a lifelong disability. Some of us are fortunate enough to have developed coping skills along the way. It’s through the hard work, support, and ultimate encouragement of teachers, mentors, friends and family that children like my seven friends (above) will find their path in life too.
Make sure to check out the brief slideshow of their hard work below:
Special thanks to:
Pritzker School and Ms. Saroni for giving me the opportunity to meet with their wonderful class, to my awesome class of photographers….each and every one of you did a great job! And…of course to Matt Brandon, a humanitarian photographer, who set me up the with slideshow software to display their work.
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What a great initiative! Love this project. Congrats!
Thanks Mark….I think the kids really enjoyed it. I know I did.
That made me smile.
This is great John. So glad you did it.
I’m glad I did too….
I thought about going in to my daughters classroom this past year to do something similar. I was going to have them take portraits of each other instead of “traveling”. This seemed to turn out so well I will need to make this happen next year. Her class is quite a bit bigger though.
Chris,
Sounds like a great project. The class size was perfect for me…I can’t imagine handling a larger class.
John, this is wonderful. Sometimes we’re able to open doors which can’t be closed. No one will ever be able to tell these kids that they can’t do this… because they already have.
Early in the slide show there is a photo of two kids framing the words “the way up? Or the way down?” Experiences like this make it much more likely the answer will be ‘the way up’ for them.
Very well put…:)
What a fantastic project! Exposing these kids to the world of photography undoubtedly had a positive impact on their lives — whether it was just by allowing them that one day of creative expression or by helping to develop a lifelong love of looking through a lens. Great job!
Thanks…;)
Awesome! Great story, and contribution to the community. I love the fact that you gave up a little of your time for this. If only more people did this. Congrats!
Thanks Mac….we had a great time.
The kids obviously had a terrific time. What a great experience for you and the children, and just think, you may have inspired a child to some day become a photographer in spite of their limitations. My hat is off to you, John!!!
I’m so glad this was posted! Great project. I can see it in all of their faces-the loved this project. Thanks for your hard work John (and Staci), our students are so fortunate to have had this opportunity.
A big thanks to Staci for helping me put it all together….she’s a keeper..;)
It’s great to see how this all came together, John. The kids look like they were having a blast. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful project with us.
Thanks….I hope to do it again next year.