My 4 1/2 year old granddaughter took this picture of a sign at a park
Last summer, for my granddaughter's 4th birthday, I bought her a digital camera and we went birding and "camera hunting" around my cabin in the woods. I think children have a natural affinity for taking pictures. It's a wonderful thing to introduce them to and a great tool to help nurture their creative side. She loved it.
Seeing life through the lens of a camera helped her fall in love with the outdoors. She began asking me often if we could go birding. It was really just hiking while exploring nature.
I introduced her to bugs and tried to inspire her to be curious about them versus being afraid. I didn't want her to stomp on them. I want her to appreciate all life with a live and let live attitude. I taught her how to trek up and down hills and to find deer paths to negotiate easier through the thick forest.
Another pic my granddaughter took over the weekend
An inspiring story about the restorative powers of art is a film called Born Into Brothels. I loved this film!
DIRECTLY FROM KIDSWITHCAMERAS.ORG WEBSITE:
Born into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, is the winner of the 77th annual Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes.
The film, released by THINKFilm, premiered theatrically at the Film Forum in New York City in December 2004. It has since opened in over one hundred theatres nationwide. It premiered on HBO/Cinemaxon Tuesday, August 16th, 2005.
The film is now available on DVD.
The photographs taken by the children in Born into Brothels are available for purchase in the Kids' Gallery, and as a signed limited-edition portfolio, or as a compilation in our companion book. 100% of proceeds from sales of the children's prints go directly to support their education and well-being.
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