Photography is not just about capturing a beautiful image or recording an event, it can build self awareness, build self confidence, and most importantly a tool for healing.
Two significant projects that inspire me are:
"We’ve all been there: not having the words to express what we feel. Kids in war zones know this too well.
Brian McCarty had a thought: what if cameras were the key to teaching kids how to tell their stories?
He traveled to Jerusalem, the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to find out.
Brian asked kids to draw what they’ve seen, and then recreated the scenes in a photograph with toys. He found that a combination of play and art therapy was a powerful and life changing way to give kids a voice.
Photographers often turn to their camera when words just won’t do. Turns out kids are no different."
"In Calcutta, there are over 10,000 women and girls who live and work as prostitutes. In 1997, New York-based photographer Zana Briski moved to Calcutta to live with these women and document their lives through photography.
While living in the brothels, she developed relationships with their children and after recognizing their fascination with the camera, began to teach them basic photography.
77th Academy Awards Winner.
Born into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, is the winner of the 77th annual Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes.
The film, released by THINKFilm, premiered theatrically at the Film Forum in New York City in December 2004. It has since opened in over one hundred theatres nationwide. It premiered on HBO/Cinemax on Tuesday, August 16th, 2005.
The photographs taken by the children in Born into Brothels are available for purchase in the Kids' Gallery, and as a signed limited-edition portfolio, or as a compilation in our companion book. 100% of proceeds from sales of the children's prints go directly to support their education and well-being.
The film is now available on DVD."
