Photography Explorers

I spent my morning at PS 270 with a group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who signed up for the Photography Explorers enrichment class.  I don’t know all the details of how the program started, I just signed up through New York Cares’ website for the project.  I arrived, without a camera of course, early and awaited Francine the coordinator.

When Francine arrived, she briefly explained what was going to happen – take the kids outside with cameras, let them do their thing, then come back inside to print out a single photo.  During the explanation, kids and additional volunteers began to filter in.  By ten after ten, we were outside on the playground taking photos of kids on the swings, on the playground gear, pretty much anywhere.

I worked with Crystal.  She led me around and took photos of me doing silly stuff on the monkey bars. I, in turn, tried to get her to take photos of flowers or photos of people at interesting angles.  She wasn’t interested.  She got some great shots and I got some great shots.

Just before we headed in, I showed her the fountain.  I hit the on button to release a small stream of water.  I told her to take a photo.  She missed the stream a few times, so I showed her how to time it.  A couple other people came over to have fun with the fountain, too.

The girl, Mioshi, said she really enjoyed taking photos.  She thought she was going to be a photographer when she grew up.  When she printed out her photo, it was of a woman pushing a shopping cart on the sidewalk.  She snapped the shot while the woman was unaware, so it was a very honest expression on the woman’s face – determination and tiredness.

Mioshi titled her photo album page with “Mioshi Documents Brooklyn”.  I don’t think of 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders using a word like document, but she did.  I was impressed.  She went on to describe the woman and where she met her.

The last time I volunteered with kids, I was trying to read to kids in a domestic violence shelter.  Not the best first experience.  I haven’t really wanted to work with kids since then.  After this morning, I have at least one positive experience to balance the reading experience..