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Saturday 4 January 2014

Through the Eyes of the Child...

While out shopping for notebooks and diaries/calendars etc to start planning this year of learning - my own development... I saw a book of photographs that was full of images from just one day - from around the world...

It made me think that I would LOVE to do the same thing - collect photographs of children from around the world, that was taken on the same day... by the time I had left the shopping centre my mind was whizzing as to how I could do this, would it be possible - and the phrase "Through the Eyes of the Child" was established in my train of thoughts...

By the time I got home I was exploring that phrase... what does "Through the eyes of the child" mean? Would it mean that we as adults would make an observation of children - their play, the exploration and their interactions with the world around them... does it mean that we should hand over the camera to the children and let them take photographs and see what THEY see in a day... or does it mean that we get down to the height of child, we abandon our adult perspective and try to see the world through the eyes of the child?

I like all three ideas...

  • I like the potential of gathering observations of play and children's interactions from around the world with an opportunity to learn more about why this observation was chosen, what can be learned from it and where it can take it...
  • I like the potential of seeing whether children around the world are connected to each other through the choice of subject in their photos? Why did they choose to take a photo of THAT? What importance does it have - and Why THAT particular photo is shared with others and not other ones?
  • I like the potential of challenging myself (and others) to think differently to take of the layers of adulthood and see childhood - and to challenge adults in their thoughts about WHAT childhood is today...
my son documenting his visit to the Butterfly House in Stockholm - there were NO photos of butterflies!!
BUT if there are others out there interested in participating in a project like this let me know... maybe it IS worth setting up... and to TOGETHER choose the purpose of the project ...

leave a comment here... or on my facebook page... Interaction Imagination  if you are interested in being a part of this...

9 comments:

  1. I really like this idea and don't think there are many adults who can see through the eyes of a child anymore. To see the world from the child's height, from the child's perspective - very often we 'think' we know but really we don't. Pete Clark and Alison Moss did some lovely work with cameras and children (Mosaic approach) and I have also given children cameras and suggested they photograph what is important to them. The analysis and reflection of adult and child is important. Great project!

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    1. I love the Mosaic Approach... I will make sure some reference to it pops up in the new blog/website that is being created for this project... it is starting, not just a dream or a thought anymore!!

      Please share your thoughts in the group too - so that we can ensure that this rpoject gets off with the right intentions that not only make children more visible but also shed light on the different views children and adult have on life - as well as the similarities...

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  2. Yes,yes yes sounds amazing.

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    1. glad that you want to particpate... a website is being fixed up to try and work out EXACTLY how this will happen and how to collect the photographs to be shared without FB laying claim to them all... and also a something separate to my blog ... as its a project in its own right...

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  3. I love your ideas. I did a post a couple of months ago about seeing my garden from a toddlers perspective
    http://kidsinthegarden.co.uk/a-toddler-high-garden/
    It really made me think about how children will inevitably see things differently. Please let me know if I can contribute to your project in anyway

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    1. thank you so much for your interest and support... a website is being set up at the moment... and I am hoping for 100 countries to participate - so apart from actually sending in a phot for the actual project then this project will need some help to be spread around the world...

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  4. This sounds like an amazing idea ...would love to be a part of it if my preschool agrees....but I am in sweden too so it would be another part of the world not so far from you!

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    1. hopefully it is all going to be a learning process for children and adults... so that there will be room for active participation, room for passive particiaption - where you follow the posts and challenge you own thinking about how phtography can be used as a tool of communication...

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  5. This is a great idea. We are doing a similar project at the moment. My kindergarten children are really interested in using the camera and taking photos of things around them in our kindergarten. We called it ( Our Kindergarten Thorough Our Eyes). Each child will make a poster of their photos and will say why did they take these photos.

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