The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Enlightening, it is no kids’ stuff

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Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Enlightening, it is no kids’ stuff

Staff Reporter

An exhibition born out of 10 children’s photography project

— Photo: M. Karunakaran

Young talents: Some of the students of Navabharath Matriculation School, whose photo exhibition is on at Alliance Francaise of Madras, pose for their schoolmate at the venue recently.

CHENNAI: Images that reflect life in Kodambakkam, including those of a woman combing her long tresses, a grandmother feeding her grandchild, a man on the phone in a PCO booth, a barber giving a face massage to a customer and even a woman making dosas in a narrow lane find a place in this exhibition of photographs by school students.

The exhibition is the result of a six-week-long project in which 10 children of Navabharath Matriculation School learnt the basics of photography. “We learnt to take pictures and tell stories through them. When we approached our neighbours and friends for pictures, we had a lot of explaining to do. But it was great fun,” said K.Gayathri of class IX, one of the participants.

The children — K. Gayathri, M. Sukanya, K. Gayathri, K. Leelavathi, A. Ashwini, G.Kishor, R.Gouthamraj, A.Praveenkumar, C. Suresh and M.Vignesh — said they would have clicked around thousand pictures in six weeks. They said they would pass on to others what they learnt during the workshop. “If we could develop our skills further, we could take it up as a profession,” said M. Sukanya, another participant.

“They caught on very quickly and just on the first day, they made a story called ‘Everyday Work’.

The children learnt to compose the frames properly and wait for the right moment to capture the essence. They didn’t just take pictures in a haphazard manner,” said Lorene Durret, who during her internship at the Alliance Francaise of Madras taught the children. Ms. Durret has had experience working in a magazine back home in France.

The project was presented by Alliance Francaise of Madras and the Aseema Trust with the support of The Hindu Young World. V.R.Devika of Aseema Trust said the workshop offered a chance to children from ordinary backgrounds too to explore their worlds through the lens.

The exhibition will be on till July 31 at the Alliance Francaise on College Road. The timings are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

On Saturday, during the opening of the exhibition, students from AMM Matriculation School — Vishnupriya, Ajith M.B. and Shruthi — who viewed the pictures, said that they were able to see a fresh perspective in everyday things in life.

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