Camera kids of Kalungu, Kenya

In 2013, I started a photo project with nine kids in rural Kenya with the goal of letting them explore their daily life with a camera and and let us see it through their own eyes. I did not want to add to the western stereotypes about poor children in Africa. What I found were children that are tremendously resilient, curious, funny and creative. They captured beautiful, intimate, and spontaneous moments that reflect how closely connected they are within their families and their community. Each participating child received a little album with photos they took or others took of them so they will have visual memories of their childhood, their home, family and friends in years to come. I returned twice since then; meanwhile photos can be printed in a nearby town and in 2017, we had the first photo exhibition in this community with photos taken by the kids. I took the portraits of the ‘gang’ members in 2013. I hope to be able to return to Kalungu to continue the work with the now teen-aged kids.