Supporting “Freedom from Fear”
The kids with their new digital compact cameras
Sometimes, the most enjoyable photographic experiences occur when you’re not taking photographs.
Sometimes, they happen when you are sharing your love for photography with others.
Last week, I joined a number of Perth photographers in showing a group of kids from refugee backgrounds the ins and outs of using digital compact cameras.
These kids are involved in a Refugee Week 2010 initiative called Freedom from Fear — which will take shape as an exhibition of photographic and art works by young Western Australians who come from a refugee background. The exhibition, organised through the Department of Communities, gives these young people a means to share their life and experiences as refugees with other West Australians.
We worked with a group of primary school-aged children at the Edmund Rice Centre in Mirrabooka, with cameras donated to the cause by the Camera Recycle Project.
What a fantastic experience it was to be able to show these kids how to work new digital compact cameras and to get them snapping away! Their enthusiasm and excitement was infectious; it certainly took me back to the days when I was discovering photography for the first time, when I watched the kids learn to focus, zoom and use the macro and flash functions on their cameras for the first time.
A wise photographer once said that the best thing you can do as a photographer is to share your skills, your knowledge, to pass your passion and love for the medium onwards.
He was not far off the mark with that statement!
Here are some pics from the day!
The kids try their hand at food photography.
Already so confident with the camera.
How exciting!!
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