Feet on the Street

These pictures, taken in the Fall on a neighborhood walk-about, are the work of a 12 year old girl who attends the YMCA. They appear here in reverse order of the sequence in which they were taken, but I think the spirit of the moment is still captured.

Pictures, Pictures

When we first decided to organize this blog, we discussed various ways to get kids expressing themselves creatively. Photography was one form of self expression that I was particularly excited about seeing from a "kid's eye view." One excercise that I tried was having kids look through coffeetable books of photography and pick out photographs that caught their attention. Then I asked them to explain why they noticed each photograph in as many or as few words as they saw fit. I selected two books from the library:

The 70th Anniversary Collection from Time Magazine

And Harry Benson's America

Here are some of the results.

From Time Magazine's 70th Anniversary Collection

"Because it has a boy and his dog" Shyana, age 9.

"Because it has a dog in it." Shyana, age 9.

From Harry Benson's America

"I like this page with the girl playing the violin because I think it shows how music can bring joy." Christina, age 10.

"I like this one because it shows a family with a man that because president and lives in peace." Christina, age 10.

"I like this one because this woman shows her inner child." Christina, age 10.

"I like this page because this is my favorite pop star." Christina, age 10.

"I like this one because it shows a romantic couple enjoying the garden." Christina, age 10.

Walking in Hazelwood

As a camp counciler at the YMCA, I walk with a group of 15 to 20 kids from our facility to the Library on 2nd Ave., and then on to the Hazelwood Harvest Urban Garden on Ladora Way every Wed. morning. Each week, we walk past empty buildings, and step over broken bottles. Each week we see what can only be called urban decay. But within that, there is beauty everywhere. This past week, I brought my camera, and took lots of pictures. The kids in my group kept asking, "What are you taking a picture of that for?" And I kept answering the same way. "Because I want to." I am going to post some of those photos right here. Next week, as we go to the garden, I will bring my camera again. This time, however, I am going to let the kids take pictures of whatever they want. Because they want to. And I will post them, too...
Rory