Children and Childhood by Camera Obscura Photography

Team Coordinator : Sebastian Vaida sebastianvaida@cameraobscura.ro

Editor : Marius Ioan Groza

mariusioangroza@cameraobscura.ro

Collaborator : Alin Barbir alinbarbir@cameraobscura.ro

Cover by Laura Siebert

www.cameraobscura.ro

Featured Photographers Alin Petruş

.....................................................................................................................................

Norbert Gaspar

...........................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

Silviu Pavel

....................................................................................................................................

Umair Ghani

..................................................................................................................................

Photography project – “Child labor and the global village” / Project 5 .................................. ( Ernesto Bazan, Gigi Cohen, Brian Finke, Judy Walgren, Jon Warren, Clarence Williams )

About Childhood by Oana Ghimbuluţ ........................................................................................ ( Daniele Manfredini, Frode Fanebust, Salih Güler, Linda Veit, Jacqueline Roberts, Alin Petruş )

108

Winners of “Children and Childhood” photography contest ( Ivanova Victoria, Mihai Bonciu, Petrişor Crăciunoiu )

122

Ruth David Laura Siebert Todd Laffler Gundega Dede

Jim Zuckerman

..................................................

“I don’t pretend to know what other people are like, but for myself, I seem to feel my heart throb with joy even to this day when I remember my birthplace, my home at Humuleşti, the post supporting the flue of the stove, round which mother used to tie a piece of string with tassels at the end of it, with which the cats played till they dropped exhausted, the flat ledge of the stove that I used to cling to when I was pulling myself up and learning to walk, the place on top of the stove where I used to hide when we children played at hide-and-seek, as well as other games and delights full of childlike fun and charm. Lord, what good times those were, for parents and brothers and sisters were hale and hearty, there was everything needful in the house, the sons and daughters of our neighbours were for ever romping with us, and everything was exactly as I liked best, without a shadow of ill-humour as if the whole world were mine! I myself was as happy as the day was long, whimsical and playful like the gusting wind. My mother, who was well-known for her spells and cantrips, would say to me sometimes with a smile as the sun peeped from behind the clouds after prolonged rain: “Go outside, you fair-haired child, and laugh at the sun, maybe the weather will change.” And the weather did change at my laughter. Let us rather talk about the days of our childhood, for childhood alone is merry and innocent. And there, when all is said and done, is the truth of the matter. What does it signify to a child when father and mother talk about the hardships of life, of what the morrow may hold in store for them, or when they are worried by harrying thoughts? Astride a stick a child thinks he is riding a most wonderful horse and gallops apace in high spirits, purposefully whips it and curbs it and shouts at it until you’re deafened; and if he falls, he thinks it’s the horse that’s thrown him and it is the stick that bears the brunt of his anger. That is what I was like at that happy age and that’s what I think all children have been like ever since the beginning of the world, no matter what people may say.” Ion Creangă “Childhood Memories”

portfolio

Alin PetruĹ&#x;

www.alinpetrus.ro

Alin Petruş Interview

CO - For those of us that know little about this kind of photography, please tell us a bit about it, in terms of challenges, space (in the studio, outdoors), equipment, patience ? AP - Working with kids is, mainly, about patience and tact. Generally speaking, a 3-4 years kid gives you a maximum of 15 minutes… And then you’ve lost him… With older children, I’d say it is slightly easier, but not much easier.

you, photographically speaking. And that is at least one reason why photographing children in an individual shooting session, is always a challenge. When you photograph children, it is very important the way they see you. If you know how to become interesting to them, then you become an attraction and you get all the attention and involvement you need. Besides the patience I mentioned before, you also need experience in working with kids, so that you can direct their attention to your lead. Also, the parent’s presence is very important, to create the feeling of safety over the place and moment. And when I feel I have to stop, I stop. A child can not and must not be forced to do something against his/her will. Because when you try to push things, then you’re out and you risk to ruin everything… As for the working space, it is said that a familiar space is most recommended. Personally, I like to take the child out of his/her regular environment, to get from him what I think it is so great about them. That neverending curiosity that can be mirrored in everything they do in that particular moment. Also, once a child is out of his/her regular environment, it is also out of the rules of that confine. And once shaken of all of this, he/she is free to express, to let go. In terms of equipment, it is also a huge difference between the approach for an adult and the approach for a child. You can move an adult around the lights, the way you see fit. With kids, most of the times, it is you (as a photographer) that you move around him/her. I once had a child asking for his/her pillow and blanket, to go to sleep, after some one a half hours of working in the studio. Well, how could I have said in which part of the studio should the child sit down and sleep? So I followed the kid and set my light around the chosen place. And the result turned out most natural and beautiful… CO - How and when did you decide you wanted to photograph children?

For a grown up, the habituation time with the photographer, with the classic methods, is 30 minutes up (here speaking about a person with no posing experience). So, you do realise that in the 15 minutes that a child gives you, there is no time to see what that kid can offer

AP - The first children I photographed were my own. Actually, the first published photo (in Photomagazine, August 2008 edition) was one with my eldest child. And this is roughly the time that I realised I love working with children. It is also then that I realised that what one can

achieve photographically is unique, spectaculat and most sincere and clean! And I also knew, as I now know, that you can never get that from an adult in photography.

CO - Who’s actually running a photo session while working with children ? The photographer, the parents or the children? AP - Definitely, the photo session is led by the photographer. It is true, I do it in a subtle way, leaving the impression that what happens there is controlled by the child, to make him/her feel comfortable. Children are not aware of their traits and charactristics, charm or the details that define and make us love them so much. They are way too fresh to alter their behavior, to get an attitude or a position that places them in a social pattern…much like adults or teenagers. Children are… themselves…open, without any curtains or masks, simply put, they are clean. On the other hand, the parents are subjective. A parent tends to always enhance certain features that he/she loves, as a parent. Features that

can be photographically irrelevant, or very exagerated.

CO - What is it that you really need in order to photograph children? AP - You have to love children! Patience also comes high! And, first of all, I believe it is that photographer’s personal characteristic that makes him/her see inside a child. I am certain that any photographer can take pictures of a child. Yet not any photographer can do it. Further more, I might even say that there are only a few that really know how to do this. After all, it’s all in the inner build of the “human photographer”. CO - In terms of percentage, how long does it take to prepare a photo session and how long for the shooting itself? AP - It is true that you can’t start a photo session without any prior desired results. Yet any destination is shrouded with uncertainty, because the entire photo session will go according to what the child is

willing to do and offer. As I were saing, teenagers and adults unwillingly approach attitudes and behaviors that are copied or learned from their environment, from the society they live in, from movies, etc. Kids aren’t like that. And that’s the beauty of it. The rules are set right there, on the spot. A photo session can last for an hour or three. The next questions could be – “and how many breaks do you take within this period of time? The idea is that, when working with children, the session ends when they want.

CO - Do the parents or relatives come with certain expectations towards the photographer and the final images? Or they give you the freedom you need? AP - No matter what the parents’ demands are, I have my freedom as a photographer. Children photography, as I approach it, is an artistic one. And artistic photography can not be built according to patterns or clear demands. In a situation like this, I couldn’t be talking about this

photography type in the way that I like to see it. Especially when you choose a photographer for the results that he/she has, for the style and simply because you like what you see in those photos. And then you clearly know what to expect. It would be absurd to deny a collaboration between the photographer and parents, starting with the outfits they wish and certain posings that they would like for their kids. This kind of collaboration must exist. The parent knows the child best and they are the ones that can best answer the photograper’s questions when setting the session schedule.

questions going into the imaginarium and exagerations that please them. Most of the times yet, I ask the questions and let them tell the story. This helps them bring a part of their imaginary world into my studio… CO - What do you use as a guidance during a photo session with kids? Are you searching for the emotion, the moment, the childs’ state, the message? AP - Yes, pretty much all this, and many more. Every child is different, by what he/she does, and the way they do it. By what they experience when they do that and the way they express these feelings. In other words, in front of you unfoldes an entire universe that you must discover…and it’s only up to you and your skills how far you get and what you discover. It is fascinating! CO - What are the elements of a great photograph portraying a child? AP - I can’t put my finger on one element, or two or three. It is a complex of factors that make a great portrait. Kids are a neverending story. They have stories and are part of their stories. If you can catch even a small part of their world so that, through what you accomplished, their stories are read further on, then you’re on the ht track. CO - Any future projects in child photography? Or photography in general… CO - While working with children, there’s certainly no lack of fun. What kind of questions do you get during sessions? AP - The studio itself becomes a playground. I, as a photographer, become a playing partner for the child. The session runs with all kinds of tales and dialogues. Questions?! All kinds of. From the neverending “why”... “but why”, to get to where we left from and ending with the same “but why”, to the detailed questions, where clear subjects are being followed, with

AP - Yes, I intend to have many photo sessions with children, in the style and approach I did so far, and in a further future, if my work will be at the standard I desire, to present them in a public exhibition.

Norbert Gaspar www.gasparfoto.ro

Norbert Gaspar is a young professional wedding photographer from Oradea. Full of dreams and ambitions, photography means both work and a hobby. With the same energy and enthusiasm, he gets involved in every photo session where family comes first, be it an engagement, a wedding ceremony or photographing children. In every photo he takes thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s harmony and simplicity, associated with modern, fancy elements. This particular way of seeing things and a free, young spirit give the true style of his photos. He loves to be around the people he photographs, to know them and work with them, no matter the age, religion or culture, thus creating the true art of photography.

Norbert Gaspar Interview

CO - When have you started photographing children and their families? NG - I’ve started photographing children about 2 years ago. I enjoyed photographing them even before, perhaps because I’ve always had lots of children around me.

what I noticed, those who took part at least once in a family photo session have had a great time and will certainly come back just as enthusiastic. I don’t think that we can consider photographing children as mandatory or vital, yet it is certainly not in the “luxury” category. Sure enough, children photographs have something magical, indescribable, they have messages, feelings, proving harmony and happiness in a family. Parents take photos of their children in every moment, and this is perfectly normal, because for them every “moment” is extremely important. Unfortunately, most of the times these photos have the same fate – they end up “crowded” on a CD or on the computer, and in the end you forget where you placed them. That’s why a family album is so different, because you can browse it, hug it, feel it’s smell, the smell of the past.

CO - How do parents see professional photography in Romania? As a necessity or a caprice? Because some parents understand the importance of a professional photographer, to capture some unque moments in their kids life, while others think they can do that themselves. NG - Once the camera has appeared (either the “antique” compact on film, or the modern digital), the photographer’s status (not to be generalized) has been slightly shadowed. Still, there are parents that understand what it means to be photographed by a professional. From

CO - How do you find this kind of photography? Is it difficult to work with children? Or is it easier with adults? NG - In my opinion, it is more difficult to photograph a child or a toddler,

as compared to an adult. Most of the times, it is not the photographer that sets his/her concept, and it is all in the child’s attitude. You have to be patient, to let them comply with the new situation, to be natural. And only then you can get real “quality” images. But I think it is worth the trouble, because most of the times I have a lot of fun with these little men.

NG - I don’t plan ahead. Only the “action” scene is agreed with the parents. This scene must be cozy and friendly, so that the family feels good there and for the photographer to be appropriate in terms of lighting, shadows, colors… Most of the times, the attitude and the family’s life style give me a starting point, inspire me. At the same time, I help them say what they think, so that they bring ideas to the photo session, so that they boldly use personal items that help get that family look.

CO - What do you like most about child photography? Pros and cons... NG - Why do I like photographing children? Because they are honest, you can see their feelings, you see if they like you or not, because of their naïve nature, and the curiosity in their look. In an adult, these feelings are rare or masked. One disadvantage is that you truly need a lot of patience, but it can become a plus if you really like children. CO - Do you plan ahead before starting a photo session with kids? Or you simply improvise?

CO - Are you after a certain “look”? Candid, for instance? NG - I’m not looking for a certain style and I’m far from trying to capture children only in candid moments. For then, we couldn’t talk about being natural, or expressive, or my own way of “seeing” things. But when a family behaves natural and detached, I try to “dissolve” myself in that atmosphere and this is how great family portraits are born. And I dare say without any direct control from me.

CO - What is be the message you wish to send? NG - What I really wish for is to revive this family albums habit, because family and children are the most important asset we have in life. To reborn the charm of the original photos that you can take off the shelf and take a time travel, to be able to pass them on and be proud of them. What’s in the hundreds of photos if you don’t have ONE truly precious that brings back memories?

NG - It depends upon the child. Between 1 and 2 hours. Or indefinitely. Taking pictures itself is the easy part. The real hard work is becoming friends with the child, playing. Of course, there are exceptions when you meet a child that is on the same frequency with you. Actually vice versa. CO - What should a photographer do in this kind of photography? What would you advise? NG - Main advice: PATIENCE. Yet patience is not enough, because you have to adore children and be a child yourself. So they accept you as one of their own, trust you. And if you can’t show them all these, then you haven’t got a chance.

CO - Black and white or color? Or it’s according to what you wish to communicate?... NG - I like and I use both. Still, maybe closer to my style and personality is black and white. It is more expressive, more exiting, the lights and shadows suggest more than color, which seems more “impressive”. CO - How long does a photo session last when working with children?

Norbert as a child

A Word On Childhood

“Childhood...the most wonderful memory in the life of many of us. Being a child means knowing how to enjoy every detail, being curious, finding a small miracle in every moment and in everything around you. Thinking back to those wonderful moments, I recalled a photo that is dearest to me. I searched it impatiently… And the moment I picked it up, memories came upon me like an avalanche, clichés from the most pleasant moments, about childhood friends, about the noise in the street, from our never resting play, about the flavors that drove us crazy when lunch was being done and mom called us “to lunch”. About the spring smells, the flowers’, the garden fruits, that we used to eat raw… Perhaps these great memories give me so much pleasure in being around children and their families and, of course, photographing them. I think every family has nowadays a photo camera, and of course parents see every moment of their children’s life as unique…So parents take photos of their children in every moment, and this is perfectly normal, because for them every “moment” is extremely important. Unfortunately, most of the times these photos have the same fate – they end up “crowded” on a CD or on the computer, and in the end you forget where you placed them. What I really wish for is to revive this family albums habit, like when I was a child, so you can hug them, thus feeling the “smell” of the memories, so you can browse them and be connected through each photo to a special event. I feel lucky for having the pleasure of photographing many kids and their families and I honestly confess that it is not a “play”, especially when it comes to more kids, and each one is up to something different. One moment they cry, the next one they laugh and you never know how they’ll react in front of the camera, and especially in front of a stranger that has set his lens on them. But even if I had to spend hours close to them, watching them, trying to get the most fantastic moments, it is all WORTH it! It is then that you realize that all the fatigue has not been in vain, and you receive thanking letters from the parents, and you notice their eyes in tears when they see the photographs with their most beloved – CHILDREN. And honestly speaking, in this vibrating loving atmosphere, I melt too, because, for one brief moment, I feel a CHILD again.”

ÂŠ Norbert Gaspar

Ruth David

www.rdavidphotography.com

Location: Washington DC and surrounding areas

Photographic Background: I grew up with parents who were serious amateur photographers. We had a darkroom in our house, and cameras were always a part of our landscape. I studied darkroom photography in high school and college, and took up digital photography in the late 90s. I have been a professional portrait photographer for over five years, with a special concentration on children and childhood images. I have also done quite a bit of work as a political photographer, including documenting the Obama campaign for over two years for the OfA Mid-Atlantic Finance Office. I like working in both of these genres, finding that it brings me a nice balance to work in two such different environments. As both a mother and a photographer, I am attracted to the complexities of childhood - the perfect imperfection of windblown hair, the charm of missing teeth, the beauty of a sad expression as well as a giggly smile. I am also a huge fan of concept photography, and tend to lend myself to whimsical images - little girls as fairy tale princesses and little boys as Huck Finns.

Silhouettes are a specialty, and I love the planning that can go into a conceptualized silhouette image as well as a candid sunset shot that captures a “real” moment. The poem “Children’s Song” captures my feelings about childhood photography in a nutshell:

Children’s Song by R. S. Thomas We live in our own world, A world that is too small For you to stoop and enter Even on hands and knees, The adult subterfuge. And though you probe and pry With analytic eye, And eavesdrop all our talk With an amused look, You cannot find the centre Where we dance, where we play, Where life is still asleep Under the closed flower, Under the smooth shell Of eggs in the cupped nest That mock the faded blue Of your remoter heaven.

“This is my favorite image - it just screams “Childhood! Neverland! Velveteen Rabbit!” I use it as the basis for my entire branding, from logo to packaging.”

ÂŠ Ruth David

Laura Siebert www.laura-siebert.com

Location: Denver, CO but travel worldwide for catalog work Photographic background: Always been only kids and digital. Been in business for 5 years. Photography is much more a social science than anything. You must be able to connect with your subjects and bring out their essence. The rest is just details.

“Childhood is such a small window of time in our lives but it holds such a great portion of our memories. It’s a magical time when all things are possible. I love working with kids to capture that magic and bottle it up so to speak. Kids are so uninhibited with their emotions and expressions. They don’t stop to think about whether it’s socially appropriate. They just ARE what they feel.”

ÂŠ Laura Siebert

Todd Laffler

www.lafflerphotography.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I began my journey in photography when I was 17 years of age. My mother showed me how to shoot, develop, and print black and white photographs in her makeshift darkroom in our basement. I was completely blown away by the whole process, and instantly became infatuated. I started photographing what I knew best, which at the time was skateboarding. I even made my own skateboarding magazine using my photography. After high school I went on to earn my BFA in Photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art.â&#x20AC;?

“What interests me about child photography is that you never truly know what kinds of images you are going to come home with. That’s exciting to me. Every child is so different and unique that they always manage to keep me guessing as to what they might do next. The real challenge is to be ready for when something happens because you can safely bet that it will be fleeting. For the lack of a better description, I feel adults are somewhat hard wired already. They are predictable. They also have a pretty definite idea about their self image. They are hyper sensitive to their visual “flaws”, and seem to obsess about them. “

“I always hear things like, “can you photoshop my wrinkles out, photograph me from above because I have a double chin, this is my good side, can you make me look thin” etc. Most children haven’t learned this yet. This makes photographing them so much more enjoyable because I’m not worried that they won’t like the way they look. I like to think of myself as a child as well while I’m photographing them, except that I have much more expensive toys!”

Gundega Dede www.sundewart.com

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gundega Dege is a 38 year old photo artist from Latvia. Her first steps in art were made during her childhood and school years when she attended drawing school and took part in several drawing competitions and exhibitions. After high school she studied foreign languages at University for 5 years. Meanwhile she continued to draw and write poetry. After finishing university, she worked as a translator, and later as a public relations specialist and photojournalist in a local newspaper where she discovered the world of photography. She had been taking pictures during her schooling on a casual basis, but in 2004 she got involved in photography seriously and she bought her first digital camera. Her first experience was taking photos of children. She self taught photography through books, photo magazines, and workshops.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

“After a while she started to post photos on internet photo web sites – such as www.photo.net , www.photosight.ru, www.deviantart.com. In the spring of 2005 her first personal photo exhibition opened in her native town of Ogre. In autumn of the same year she had her second exhibition in the local Ogre art gallery and at the end of 2005 exhibited at the expronto one day exhibition at the youth club "Depo” in Riga capital of Latvia. In 2007 her 4th photo exhibition took place. Also that same year her photos were exhibited at art gallery in Moscow, Russia. She has also participated and won prizes in several local contests. In 2007 her 4th photo exhibition took place. Also that same year her photos were exhibited at art gallery in Moscow, Russia. She has also participated and won prizes in several local and international web site photo contests. She has created photos and CD designs for some music groups.”

â&#x20AC;&#x153;At the moment Gundega is still working in PR, and photography is her passion. Last year she started to teach photography in local Education centre. Sometimes she sells her images to the people who like them. Her clients are family members, friends, people from the street, and the people she meets at work or on internet sites. Speaking of post-processing, she manipulates photos according to the theme. Sometimes it takes 20 different layers to make the image. She uses different textures and makes her own brushes. The style she prefers is digital photo painting, when different sectors of photo are painted in other colors than original by using digital photo brushes in layers. Another style she loves to use is black and white infrared imaging in Photoshop and work with contrasts. These two styles have a strong representation in the magazine photos.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gundega Deges favourite model is her own daughter, 10 year old Linda, and her major theme is human feelings and emotions. Once I took photos about what I saw; now I take photos about what I feel... You shouldn't be afraid to show people the world from the other side, and remember that it's one thing to wish to take photos, but you must have the power and sense to take them! No matter what camera you have, the main thing is what you have in your mind and soul. This is our world, full of pain, suffering, wars and all the rest. A little girl tries to save it all, she is our angel, our hopes and dreams for a better world. Sometimes people say they are crying when they look at my images. I think I have put much of myself in them, as well as my daughter Linda who is the main model here.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think my style might be called dark wave or dark art photography. To shoot my images all I need is the right mood for myself and the models. I have always focused on human things...emotions and feelings, the inner world as well as the subconscious. My favorite photographer is Jan Saudek, much of my inspiration comes from his works, as well as from everyday life here in my country. My best assistants are my family - my 2 children, Linda and Daniel, who are also my models. To anyone who would like to work with me I would say that if you want to see yourself from the inside, I am the right person.â&#x20AC;&#x153;

ÂŠ Gundega Dede

Jim Zuckerman www.jimzuckerman.com

Jim Zuckerman left his medical studies in 1970 to pursue his love of photography and turn it into a career. He has taught creative photography at many universities and private schools, including UCLA, the Hallmark School of Photography, the Palm Beach Photographic Center, and Kent State University. He also leads many international photo excursion to exotic destinations such as Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Burma, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India, Eastern Europe, Peru and Turkey. Thus far, he has been to 83 countries. Jim has had photo exhibitions in art galleries in Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Detroit, and Los Angeles. His fine art prints hang in dozens of private collections

Jim has been a contributing editor to Photographic Magazine for 3 1/2 decades. His images, articles, and photo features have been published in scores of books and magazines including Time-Life books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Life Magazine, Omni Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Shutterbug, Science Fiction Age, National Wildlife and Opticon, a prestigious photo magazine in Greece. He is the author of 14 books on photography, and he now teaches many on-line courses for Betterphoto.com. In addition, he is featured in three instructional DVDs that are available on Amazon.

The work of Jim Zuckerman has been used for packaging, advertising and editorial layouts in more than forty countries. He has been published in calendars, posters, greeting cards and corporate brochures and annual reports, and his work is also sold as fine art prints in scores of furniture store outlets across the United States.

ÂŠ Jim Zuckerman

Silviu Pavel www.silviupavel.com

“The images are part of a personal photo project called "A Good Childhood", that was accidentally born in 2009, during some trips to Dobrogea, and it will continue in the future as well. It is here that I discovered a world very different from the one I knew, that impressed me in time, through the daily naturalness and the innocence of some children that still remember how to live a healthy and emotionally clean childhood, something you will hardly see in the big cities. Although at first I’ve had some feelings of compassion, I learned in time that everything I found here is a universe of enthusiasm and imagination, belonging to a childhood lacking the “urban” constraints. The abandoned boats on the bank of the Danube have become ships, the old farms and the dairy have now turned into “fortresses”, the old school was a football field and a bike track, all in the innocent game of kids that don’t know what a “videogame” is. And without any intent to excessive “romanticize” a reality not exactly happy, I tried to catch those moments of untained living, the ones I used to read in stories in my own childhood. I tried to show an honest smile, out of the simple pleasures in life and to show the beauty of an area suffering from economic and social neglect.”

Umair Ghani

photo.net/photos/Awaraagard

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Umair Ghani is an independent photographer living in Lahore, Pakistan. He's done several National and International Exhibitins, Assignments and is published by photo magazines and post card companies. Umair won several International and National awards for his work on Pakistani culture including Prime Minister's Award for promoting Pakistani Culture Through Photography.â&#x20AC;?

Paradise lost

Two things suddenly changed my photographic style as well as my perception of the world. I was in Sindh Province (Pakistan), photographing people in the hot, dusty, narrow and noisy streets of Sehwan. Just before I was about to click the shutter, focusing on an ideally placed old man inside vast courtyard of a mud house, I noticed a young girl peeping with curious probing eyes through a half opened doorway. Leaving the old man, I swirled around and clicked the shutter several times before curiosity of the girl turned into a shy half smile. At that time I had no idea what that photo was going to do with me. Second incident happened when I uploaded a photo of two shoeshine boys playfully teasing each other. Somebody commented, “While you are enjoying all the applause and nice comments on this photo, these shoeshine boys will still be struggling for survival in a hostile and unforgiving world!” And that changed something inside me. Several question marks appeared out of nowhere and hung suspended all over the space my eyes could focus. Is it appropriate to stay away from the very lives of these kids I had photographed? How far should a photographer interfere/ interact with the people in his photographs? Do I see these Kids as subjects only, or do they have a LIFE and EXISTANCE like all of us? And more importantly, if these kids are future of mankind, then what we are doing to them? The Sehwan girl picture became PEARL WITHOUT AN EARRING and I used to look at it several hours a day. And I remembered not seeing any dispensary/ Medicare for sever kilometers where she lived. And I recalled there was stagnant, dirty sewerage water everywhere inside and outside her shattered house. And I wondered how she’s going to get well if she falls sick from drinking and living in contaminated water. One thing was clear now, it was impossible for a photographer to remain detached from the very lives of his subjects. If I was taking pictures to document the change, and to bring change, then I needed to change myself first. My interest in the lives of KIDS OF PAKISTAN grew more and more. And as I began to interact with

them on more personal and intimate level, I could recognize that their mellow giggles carried notes of muffled cries, their shiny emerald eyes reflected a tinge of grief, they all appeared victims of criminal neglect and dishonesty from people who governed their lives. Now my photographic assignments and trips revolved more and more around the visual stories of these kids carried about them. At a shrine I saw this beautifully attired little blind girl who could not see her own angelic face. Whose family was so poor they could not afford to take her to any ophthalmologist in nearby urban centers and there was no help from the State. I visited devastated schools where kids came to study without carrying any books, so that Taliban would not be able to pin them for their craving for KNOWLEDGE. Young shepherds and idyllic kids, displaced in this War against Terror and in wake of Drone Attacks, wearing floral crowns and waiting for peace to be restored in their heavenly kingdoms. Inside the haunting streets of Walled City I met young wrestlers working out hard so theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be able to win back the titles once their grand grand-father won in Manila in the 1960s and became known as Manila Champion. And then there were kids wandering about looking for work, and kid drinking water from clay pots at a mosque because no one would offer him anything and then this amazing DHAMMALI [Mystic Dance] kid who danced at the Sufi festivals so he gets some free food and a place to sleep at the shrines. I clicked and clicked and clicked and each click registered a dent in my morality. I was now re educating myself and documenting the victims of social neglect. These victims, we call the THE FUTURE OF MANKIND! But these little, innocent creatures silently look on with curious probing eyes, with a thousand unanswered questions suspended in the space around them.

ÂŠ Umair Ghani

photography project

Huacipa, Peru – Brick Makers

Child labor and the global village : Photography for social change Child Labor and the Global Village: Photography for Social Change is a team of 11 photographers who will be photographing child workers around the globe. By photographing individual children in their worlds - their families, communities, countries - we hope to see behind the child labor label. Child labor is the result of a complex set of factors: poverty; lack of schools; poor health care; war; and many others. Solutions must meet the needs of individual children. We need to know who they are to know what they need. Photos produced by the project are part of an exhibit that has traveled to the U.S. Congress, universities, schools, and other forums in the United States. Internationally, the photographs have been shown in Bangladesh. Other exhibits are planned. One story is included in a curriculum published by the Stanford University Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education. A book is planned. This Tides Center project originated in the heart and mind of Los Angeles photographer Julia Dean. During many years of traveling to developing countries, Dean was saddened by the many children working in hazardous and dangerous conditions. One child in India touched her more deeply than others. He was a young boy who climbed on a train, swept under the feet of passengers and held out his hand to beg for change. For Dean, the boy was a sign: It was time to act. Drawing inspiration from the Farm Security Administration photo-journalists of the 1930s and 1940s, Dean assembled three nationally known photo editors to help her select an international team of 11 talented photo-journalists, a director of photography and two writers. Our Mission is to educate people about this complex issue, to move people emotionally and to motivate people to action. Without further ado, we’ll show you several stories that perfectly describe the lives of some of the children portrayed in this project.

Miriam, 13, smoothes off the top of a mud-filled brick mold. Her sister, too young to make bricks, sits on the ground behind Miriam and holds a doll, next to their younger brother. Around the world, children and their families make bricks out of clay packed into simple molds. The clay is dried, and then baked in a kiln. In three Latin American countries -- Peru, Argentina and Ecuador -- brick factories are concentrated on the outskirts of large cities, according to a report by the International Labor Organization. Workers are often unskilled immigrants from rural areas. Fresh water and electricity are scarce. Pay is low, while production quotas are high, and so whole families work together. Some efforts, funded by the ILO, are being made in the three countries to modernize brick production, eliminating middle-men between workers and the kilns, and supply social services, especially education. The ILO’s goal is to withdraw children from brick-making work.

Haiti – Domestic Service

Miriam’s sister plays with her puppy while walking across drying bricks spread on ground. (The boy in front is unidentified.)

Children playing in a classroom at the school Miriam attends.

Josiméne looks at a black and white Polaroid of herself. There are no mirrors in the two-room house where she works as live-in maid, or restavec, for a family of four. Josiméne’s family lives in a remote part of Haiti’s interior, hours by car and foot from Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Josiméne, 10, works as a restavec, or live-in maid, in a two-room house outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Josiméne’s parents are small farmers in Haiti’s remote and mountainous heartland. Two years before these photographs were taken, they asked a local woman to find a family that would take Josiméne as a servant. Estimated numbers of child domestic workers around the world range into the hundreds of millions. Haiti has an estimated 300,000

restavecs a term that combines the Creole for “to stay” and “with.” The line between harmless chores and child labor, according to the International Labor Organization, is crossed when children are sold or trafficked; bonded to repay family debt; work without pay; are exposed to safety or health hazards; work excessive hours; suffer physical violence or sexual harassment; or are “very young.” The Maurice Sixto Foyer, a non-profit organization, offers free classes for restavecs. On many afternoons, Josiméne’s errands keep her too busy to attend. A suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

she said. “I miss them and my parents. I would rather wash the dishes and clean the house for my mother than for these people.”

A suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

One of the two children Josiméne watches argues, and points at Josiméne, while the girl’s mother fixes her hair. Josiméne also bathes the children, aged five and four; cleans the two-room house; washes dishes; scrubs laundry by hand; runs errands; and sells small items from the family’s informal store. “I would like to see my brothers and sisters,”

Josiméne shows off her only dress, during a pause between chores. Her possessions also include two pairs of shorts, one skirt, a couple of shirts, a school uniform and flip flops.

Bhubaneswar (Orissa), India

India – Platform schools

Sankar sleeps on a bench on the railway station platform.

Sankar sells bottled water to train passengers in the Bhubaneswar train station, India. Boys sell water to buy food and daily necessities for living. The railway stations in India are home for thousands of children. Some of the children have left their homes in villages outside the city. Other children live in poverty-stricken homes nearby, and occasionally return to visit. Sankar, for instance, lived nearby but in an unstable home. His father was no longer part of the family. His mother often wasn’t home. On average, photographer Brian Finke said, the children he photographed made 50 to 100 rupees (about $2-$3) a day selling bottles of drinking water. The money was enough for food and other bare essentials. Sankar and other children slept wherever they could in the station -- on the floor, on benches, on piles of luggage.

A child writes on a slate during class time on the train station

platform. The Ruchika Social Service Organization holds classes for street children on the platform.

Trafficking at Nepal – India border

leave. On the border between Nepal and India, women “border guards” working for Maiti Nepal search the faces of women in cars, trucks, and on foot, quizzing many about their identification, travel papers and other indications that the women might be victims of trafficking. In Mumbai (Bombay), India, Apne Aap works with women sex workers in a variety of ways.

Birgunj border crossing, Nepal - Maiti Nepal “border guards” stopped this young girl and the man behind her at the Nepali/Indian at the Birgunj border crossing because the man said they were married and going to see his parents in India, but they could not produce traveling papers for the girl or proof of their marriage. They were detained at the Maiti Nepal office for more questioning and then the girl’s parents were contacted and she was taken home to her village. Some 5,000-6,000 women are trafficked from Nepal to India each year, according to Unicef. The reasons for child labor, and child trafficking, are complex. They include poverty; lack of schools; gender discrimination; poor health care; war; and others. In the last several years, a range of organizations has tried to stop trafficking at the source, and help women who have been trafficked to survive and, if possible,

Mumbai, India - On Falkland Road, in Mumbai, hundreds of prostitutes eke out a meager living on filthy, crowded street.

on fire.

Nepali woman lies in the street off of the Falkland Road, in Mumbai dying of AIDS and TB. The night after this photograph was taken, the woman died.

Cambodia – Garbage pickers

To find the main dump for the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, drive down the dirt road near the radio station in the commune of Stung Meanchey. Three siblings -- the elder boys Kayrith, 14, and Ratha, 12, and their younger sister, Minea, 10 -- and their cousin, Thavara, 11, work there as scavengers. The siblings live near the dump with their father Bo, 37, mother Sam On, 35, younger sisters Srey Yaan, 5, and Srey Yan, 4, and 10-month-old brother Sam Naang. Their home is a typical two-story, bamboo-framed shack with a corrugated tin roof, and walls of patched-together corrugated tin and scavenged materials. The children sleep on the second story, which has a floor of slatted bamboo. The parents sleep on the damp and muddy first floor, so that they can guard the flock of ducks they scoot into a pen beside the cooking platform. One day, Thavara sank in the garbage up to her neck. On another day, photographer Jon Warren, who is nearly six feet tall, stepped on a seemingly dry spot and sunk in up to his thigh.

Boy jumping in front of fire. To reduce the stench in the Stung Meanchey garbage dump near Phnom Penh, scavengers set the rubbish

The Dump Life

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Children ride on a front loader. The children of the Phou family

scavenge in the dump almost every day to earn money for school fees and to supplement the family’s meager budget. Their father, who worked as a garbage truck worker, lost his job when malaria made him miss 3 days of work. The boys are able to earn about $0.35 each for several hours of work.

Burundi, Africa – child soldiers

Thavara searches for items to recycle. Her dream is to attend school. She was admitted to an NGO school, but has since moved to the countryside.

Officers watch as the recruits in training march by.

Since 1993, Burundi has been gripped by a civil war between the Tutsi-led government and rebel groups dominated -- and claiming to represent -- the Hutu majority population. The government has herded the mostly Hutu population into camps near the capital city of Bujumbura. Children from the camps join the army and guerilla groups in order to escape the poverty, food shortages and boredom of the camps. Desperation and hopelessness drives some despite -- such as Ntirandekura, 16, pictured here -- to think that they have little choice but to join. Others join in a relatively open manner, such as the boys pictured at Muramvya Training Camp, a training camp for the army. Location: Bujumbura and other locations in Burundi.

Ntirandekura, 16, who is not a member of the Burundian army, poses with his handmade gun in the village of Bandaga. The uniform he wears and the bullets he shoots were given to him by the army. “They have told me to come register. I think I will be a soldier in days to come . . . . I can’t be afraid of dying because even if they find me at home they can kill me.”

With documents in hand, a young man stares intensely at his interviewer. Hundreds turned out for the recruitment at the Muramvya Training Camp.

one little story

About Childhood... Do you still remember those years when everything was possible? Yes…those years then we allowed ourselves to dream about anything, when we owned the world and the only discontent laid in the thought that “we weren’t grown ups yet”? Well, relax, I don’t mean to upset you. And further more, to upset my self. It was just a thought about childhood and were feeling a slight reproof for forgetting how it is to be a child. The past days I thought a lot about childhood…it sounds corny, I know, because we all think of this. Yes, but I thought different. I thought what if I had my childhood elsewhere. Who would I’ve been today??!! And as I stare in the mirror, I began building scenarios. And the mirror pleased me. What I thought of, it clearly brought it to my sight. And this not because it was a magic mirror, but because my eyes still have the power to see magic things. Only once in a while I forget about being a child, yet that morning I recalled it all too well. But let me not linger, because what I saw is worth telling. Among the drops of light reflected in the mirror, fragments have fallen out of my childhood. They were moments spent in front of my block. Whether on the play court with my friends, watching the boys playing football, or on the stairs, cutting clothes for my latest doll, I was always smiling. In fact, everyone was smiling and enjoying the time spent together. Then came tumbling down images with games, expeditions among the blocks, the stunning escape from the house. For a single glass of water, I could run ten stories up and down. But the mirror didn’t stop here, and the moment it felt my nostalgic smile, it brought back images of me in my grandparents’ village. There I was not on the field, but on the alley, I wasn’t in front of the block, but on the hope chest, in front of the house. Here I was cutting dresses for my doll in the latest fashion trend, following a pattern, learning how to knit. Everyone has heard of this, and we all know grandma’s knittings, nicely arranged all over the house, lying under every trinket. Well, if in front of the block my cousin used to play ball, in my grandma’s courtyard, he did the same. If at home he used to prove his

swimming skills at the local pool, running away from home so that my mom wouldn’t know, here he ran at the refreshing river Somes, without letting my grandma know. I was carefully looking in the mirror at different places and events, the same joyful eyes, the same magic of playing, and the same pickles. And as soon as the mirror cleared and I saw my present self, I began counting my wrinkles. For a brief moment I wanted to know just how old I grew. Not according to my ID, not according to this year’s anniversary, but according to my eyes, my face. Looking carefully and counting, I recalled my mom’s saying “all that laughter will make your face full of wrinkles”. And all at a sudden, I wasn’t sad anymore about the few wrinkles that began to appear, I was only sad they weren’t more. Have I laughed so little?!?! But once again, the mirror stopped me from thinking so deep and brought another image to my eyes. It was me again, yet not in a familiar place. This time were totally new places. I began to see myself at the same childhood age, in a very cold place. I couldn’t say exactly where, but it was cold and a strong wind was blowing, and everything was white. It must have been a place where snow reigned most of the time. And I saw snowball games, I found the same runaway from home, early in the morning, to go fishing. I found the same attempt to knit something for my dolls, the same joyful eyes, the same children lips, so perfectly painted when they smile. I had no time to wonder where I was, in what distant land, because the image became fuzzier and another image took shape. This time there were lots of plants around me. It looked like a forest or even a jungle, I dared to think. There were lot of kids and it felt really good being among them. It didn’t matter where we were, because here we also played “let’s imagine that…” and we could always find a sequel. Here too we escaped home, not telling our parents, trying a new highly dangerous trouble, as they used to say, highly pleasant one, as we used to say. And here I saw the same smiles, the same joy on every face. The same need to know, to discover, the same thirst for playing. And for a while I was stuck in the mirror. It was right. In every corner of this world, kids live alike – the magic of childhood. I looked away from the mirror and returned to my room, among my friends, asking them in awe: “When was the last time you honestly smiled?”

And they looked at me with a warm and understanding look, the kind of look you give to your mad old friend, but whose madness you accept and embrace. Still I persisted in my question and still am: “When was the last time you honestly smiled? When did you last think of the late nights, when the morning plans were to run no-matter-where, without being caught by mom and dad or grandpas or anyone else? When was the last time you really enjoyed a hide and seek game? And most important, when was the last time you believed in the magic of the words “what if…” What if I were someone else today? What if today we would do something else, something different? What if we would call or childhood friends, to remind them that we miss them and the years spent together?

text by Oana Ghimbuluţ photos by: Daniele Manfredini http://photo.net/photos/tamaghis Frode Fanebust http://photo.net/photos/fotobust Salih Güler http://photo.net/photos/salihguler http://www.istockphoto.com/salihguler Linda Veit http://photo.net/photos/lveit Jacqueline Roberts http://photo.net/photos/rana Alin Petruş http://alinpetrus.blogspot.com/

ÂŠ Daniele

Manfredini

Güler

ÂŠ Linda Veit

ÂŠ Jacqueline

Roberts

ÂŠ Jacqueline

Roberts

Petruş

Congratulations to the winners of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Children and Childhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x153; photography contest!

1-st Place

Ivanova Victoria

... and thanks to everyone else who took part in this contest

3-rd Place

PetriĹ&#x;or CrÄ&#x192;ciunoiu

2-nd Place Mihai Bonciu

The 16th Edition of Camera Obscura will be on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traditionsâ&#x20AC;?, and it will appear in September. Therefore, we invite you to send us (office@cameraobscura.ro) your best photo portraying the concept of traditions, and we will publish the best three photos in this special edition. Also, we invite anyone who is interested in writing a short text / article on the theme of Traditions. The best text will be published, along with the three photos, in the 16th Edition. Looking forward and best of luck! Camera Obscura Team

“So endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a man. When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop -- that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can. Most of the characters that perform in this book still live, and are prosperous and happy. Some day it may seem worth while to take up the story of the younger ones again and see what sort of men and women they turned out to be; therefore it will be wisest not to reveal any of that part of their lives at present.” Mark Twain “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”