Charity action for Kids With Cameras - seen.by supports the 'Hope House' building project in Calcutta

seen.by goes international! The portal for photo art is now represented in Europe and the USA with offices in Paris, London, Copenhagen and NY. Furthermore, seen.by are launching their most elaborate Christmas charity action to date, helping children build up their livelihoods through photography!

Anyone that orders pictures on seen.by by 31 December, automatically donates 20 percent of their order total to Kids With Cameras. The Calcutta-based charity teaches needy and poor children photography, so as to secure a humane future for them.

The children’s photos, which provide touching insights of their life, do not just prove beneficial in monetary terms. They also provide the needy kids with new confidence and perspective as to why it is worth living.

The seen.by team is looking forward to transferring as large a sum as possible to India in January 2010. The donations support the ‘Hope House’ construction project over there – the realisation of a safe haven and educational space for around 100 children from the red light district in Calcutta.

We have attached several question and answers with Lisa Robinson, Director of Kids with Cameras.

How did you come up with the idea that photography could be a suitable way of helping the children?
Zana went to Calcutta to photograph the women in the Sonagachi brothels. She lived there and also developed a connection to the children. She noticed there fascination with the camera and began to teach them the basics of photography. In 2002 she then founded Kids with Cameras, to draw attention to the plight of the children and collect money for them, through selling the pictures, as well as with exhibitions and films. The children’s pictures were exhibited in Calcutta, Europe, Mexico and the USA. In 2004 the book of their photographs was published. This enabled the children to help themselves and fund their own studies, as all proceeds go to them directly.

What does photography mean to the children?
Photography gives them strength. In India children are the most stigmatised sex workers. When Zana taught them photography, they felt proud of their personal living conditions for the first time. They saw that their ancestry can be beautiful too. The children were encouraged to be creative and explore their own personal worlds. It is impressive, both for the artists and the observers.

What are the typical subjects?
Their homes, family and life on the streets.

Are there examples of how life has changed for children after the workshop?
Kids with Cameras is currently supporting two children, who were part of the Born into Brothels documentary. Avijit graduated from high school in America and is now in his second year at New York University, where he is studying Film. Kochi is currently at a private boarding school in Utah, where she has blossomed and is producing excellent results. Other children from the film had the opportunity of going to private schools in Calcutta. This enabled them to leave the conditions of the red light district. The majority of the children made the most of this opportunity, however several also decided against it.

In this sense what do you mean by ‘Transforming Power of Art’?
It means the opportunity of making a difference in society through art. Regardless of who you are who where you come from. Beauty can even be discovered in the bleakest of circumstances.

How does your organisation work?
Kids with Cameras is an international non-profit organisation. We held four additional photography workshops similar to the Calcutta workshop. At the moment our focus as an organisation lies on both coordinating and sustaining the education of both children in America, as well as the donation collection and realisation of our older accommodation and education project Hope House. We wish to provide a home and learning environment for up to one hundred girls from the red light district in Calcutta. We are convinced that this will make them so strong that they will be able to change their own living conditions. We are working hard on collecting the needed money and hope to be able to start with its realisation by the start of 2010.

What do you personally find so fascinating about the children’s photographs?
The pictures provide a wonderful and powerful window to their world. I am fascinated by their imagination and by the things they choose to photograph. The photographs are just beautiful, and sometimes I forget that they are taken by children.

For more information on Christmas donation activities go to http://seenby.de/kids-with-cameras.


back to:   EVENTS  /  HOME