Child artists photograph their community.

Engaging children in the arts and encouraging their creativity is very important. Art in the School, a non-profit organization providing arts education to children in Albuquerque, New Mexico, understands this. Through the organization's programs, children learn to use art as a way to creatively express themselves. With instruction and direction from educators and volunteers, children involved in Art in the School programs explore the world of art, learn new skills, and develop their aesthetic abilities.

Almost like a third eye, the camera provides a way to look at the world with a fresh perspective. It can also show us details we may have never noticed before. Many people do not notice the bee's pollen-covered footprints on a flower petal until they zoom in on it with a camera lens. When we take a photograph we are framing what we think is important and relevant, and recording an image that can be looked at time and time again even after the objects in the image change or no longer exist.

From 1993-1995, through educational projects conducted by Art in the School, children, equipped with knowledge of the art of photography and cameras, set out with educators to explore and capture their communities by taking a single photograph. By learning that good photography is not simply about pointing and clicking, but rather requires thought about subject matter and the importance of what is included within the photo's boundaries, the children uniquely framed their worlds. They show their view of the world, through their eyes. They photographed their family and friends, their schools, their neighborhoods, important places and events in their lives, and those things in which they found beauty. One hundred of the photographs from these projects were ultimately displayed in an exhibition called "Through Children's Eyes: 100 Young Photographers Capture Their Community" which was held at the University of New Mexico's Art Museum from October 11, 1996 to December 21, 1996 and in the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition.

WHY PHOTOGRAPHY?

Photographs convey messages which words cannot. The photographs used in the exhibit "Through Children's Eyes: 100 Young Photographers Capture Their Community" were divided into three different categories based on the objectives of the artists:

DOCUMENTARY

The photographer aims to present information about the subject(s) in the photograph. Through documentary style photography, we see the reality of people's lives and experiences.

AESTHETIC

The photographer aims to show the beauty of the subject(s) photographed.

INTERPRETIVE 

The photographer aims to use a photograph as a way to create an image that has a meaning behind it. Before the picture is taken, the idea behind it has already been thought out.