A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2016.
On a bit of a whim, while daydreaming up ideas to do something creative with the children, I bought an instant camera and a few boxes of film. As soon as I opened the box, the kids wanted to hold it and try it. It appears they LOVE instant photography; the quirkiness of the physical camera itself, the anticipation as they wait for their photo to develop before their eyes, and the fact that the reward is, well pretty much instant, given the speed at which a physical photo emerges.
And so we begin a little journey learning about capturing what we see together. We will each take one photo a week, of anything we like, and after 52 weeks of pictures, I will pull together a hand held album for them both, something tangible for them to keep celebrating something they, themselves made. So far so good, I was surprised at how simple it was for them to pick up some of the basics to get going; learning to close one eye as they look through the eye piece with their other eye, learning to hold the camera still, mastering locating the shutter button whilst holding the camera still, and more lately, their interest in seeking out or just noticing opportunities for a potential picture. I encourage you to try it if you’re looking for a little creative project to do with your little ones. Bearing in mind the price of film is pretty steep but in my mind that makes each picture all the more precious – teaching them about value and less is more as well as about art.
Go create!
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