All About Me: Children Speak About Their Lives
An Exhibit of Photographs and
Words
By the Students of Village Glen School, Culver City,
California
|
| The
Project |
Early
in the Spring of 2002, thirty-five students at Village
Glen School in Culver City chose to participate
in a project utilizing photography and writing to
document their lives. All three divisions, elementary,
middle school and high school were represented.
The instructors, Pat Sandler and Jane Schulman,
met with the kids to talk about photography and
look at pictures before sending them out for a week
and a half with cameras of their own. Further meetings
helped them to choose images which represented important
aspects of their lives, and to find the words which
would accompany these images.
As you will see in these pieces from the exhibition,
the project allowed these kids to speak of things
that have meaning to them, to feel excited about
the act of creating, and to share their world with
others. We invite you to join us in this sharing.
|
| The
Assignment |
Each
artist in this exhibit was given a single use 35mm
black and white camera and asked to take pictures
that expressed something about themselves, their
lives and the things that are important to them.
The film was professionally developed, and each
student had the opportunity to look through the
pictures they had taken, and choose one image to
be enlarged. Once the pictures were enlarged by
the instructors, the kids were asked in one-to-one
meetings to respond verbally to their images. Their
words are included here with their photographs.
|
|
| “Spiderman,
The Movie” |
|
“If I were Spiderman
I could save the world. I could shoot webs at
the bad guys. I would catch the burglars and
criminals and terrorists. I would catch Osama
Bin Laden. People would say, “Thank you
Spiderman, you’re a really great hero”.
- Dominique |
|
| “My
Two Sisters” |
|
“This picture brings
back a memory of when my sister graduated. When
she was away at college I’d sometimes
look at it and wish she was in L.A. It’s
good to have sisters to hang out with.”
- Danielle
|
|
| “Friend” |
|
“My picture is about
my dog, Mandy. She’s my friend during
the week when I can’t have friends over.
It makes me feel good. I give her attention,
and walk her twice a day. I feed her once every
day. She licks me a lot, and she doesn’t
mind it when I pet her. She’s not old,
but she’s not young. She runs around a
lot. If I lost her, I’d feel sad. She’s
had a couple of close calls.”
- Errick |
|
| “My
Dream Window” |
|
“This is a window
of a girl who looks out it. She looks out it
every night when everybody else is asleep. She
loves to dream and think about things. The window,
it’s like her diary. Sometimes she can
see a cloud with a hole in it, and she can see
up to heaven. During the day, she can see the
sun and sometimes a rainbow. She can see her
mother with the laundry and her sisters play.”
- Chardai
|
|
| “My
Best Friend Robert” |
|
“This picture is
a picture of my best friend, Robert. I have
known Robert for about 10 years. I met him at
elementary school.
I was 6 _. He was 7 _. Now that we’re
older, we talk on the phone every single day.
We talk about things we’re into. I’m
into sport fishing boats now. We both like Huell
Howser. When I was stressed at my old school,
Robert always cheered me up.”
- Adam
B. |
|
| “Lady’s
Eyes” |
|
“I love Lady very
much, and I’m sure she loves me. It’s
comforting to come home and somebody’s
at the door to greet you. We hang out together
and watch T.V. She likes commercials. She’s
also a good listener. When I’m making
jokes and they’re not really funny, she
looks at me anyhow. She’s a good dog.”
- Erika
|
|
| “The
Elder Automobile” |
|
“This is one of
my favorite cars. A Karman Ghia. Made in the
60’s or 70’s. It’s got a rear-mounted,
air- cooled engine, and it also has back seats.
Cars are one of the most popular ways to travel.
I like to travel that way. Fast, expensive,
luxurious vehicles are my favorite. I’m
a real car fanatic. I’m obsessed with
them. When I think about cars it’s relaxing
and heavenly.”
- Chris |
|
| “The
Lonely Computer” |
|
“I love computers.
It’s interesting about how computers work.
It’s interesting how you can press a key
or move the mouse and what you do will show
up on the screen. The title of this picture
is ‘The Lonely Computer’ because
it looks like it’s never been touched.”
- Kendan
|
|
| “My
Uncle’s Memory” |
|
“My middle name
is David. The reason it is, is that the person
in the framed picture is my dead uncle named
David. I never saw David in my life, because
he committed suicide 3 years before I was born.
Even though I never knew him, he’s still
a member of our family. I took this picture
to honor his memory.”
- Elliot |
|
| “An
Important Part Of My Life” |
|
“My dog Truman is
practically 60% of my life. He is a very big
part of it. We’re great pals. This is
a special trick that my dog can do. I love him
very much. I always have and I always will.”
- Westley
|
|
|
| |
Culver
City 
Valley
Glen