The 'unburdened eye'

[DavidH]

I have my 11 year old son with me for the school break - haven't seen him since Easter because I've been overseas...and he has just started expressing an interest in photography. He doesn't have a camera - and has never owned one - but has borrowed his mum's point and shoot when on holiday.

So I take the kids to the local air museum for a few hours and loan my son my Contax T3, one black and white film and give him a free hand to shoot what he wants - don't even offer advice on what to look out for. Other than showing him how to turn the camera on and focus, he has no instruction whatsoever.

And the results are very good...

I'm not saying he's a prodigy or anything...but I was surprised at just how good the shots were. And it reminded me of my early efforts - before I knew anything about the rule of thirds, zone systems, composition and all the myriad baggage we pick up along the way...that is, back when I just took the shot rather than thinking about what I should be looking out for and HOW to take the shot...before I was trying to be good.

I'm sitting here, scanning his negatives, and thinking that I won't interfere in his technique or choice of subjects at all...just let him roam free...and see what comes of it. And maybe I'll ignore my library of books on how and what to shoot for a while...and give myself the same freedom.

Happy shooting
David

 

[FrankS]

I think that's a great attitude/plan.

 

[uhligfd]

Well, I started around the age of 10/11 50 years ago and have only heard the famous composition rules lately.

I am not encumbered by them. My eye is mature and people enjoy my pics. So what a nice early start with a nice camera to boot. You should see my first plastc 880 film camera ...

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

That is an interesting observation.

If you can, try to catch the "Born into a Brothel" DVD documentary about the photography of children in India given cheap P&S cameras. Some of the photos rival the pros.

quite unburdened indeed 🙂

 

[froyd]

That is an interesting observation.

If you can, try to catch the "Born into a Brothel" DVD documentary about the photography of children in India given cheap P&S cameras. Some of the photos rival the pros.

quite unburdened indeed 🙂

The pictures the kids took in the movie can be seen here. The DVD is worth renting, however. I think I remember them mentioning that the film used was Kodak Gold, but the pictures are so saturated, they look like Ciba prints.... I guess I'm just jealous because my prints never have color that brilliant 😱

 

[DavidH]

Thanks for the tip off about the doco - I've heard something about a project where kids were given cameras to report their lives...will keep an eye out for it. I'm taking my 7 year old daughter on a shoot on Friday - be interesting to see what she comes up with... 😉
David

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

The pictures the kids took in the movie can be seen here. The DVD is worth renting, however. I think I remember them mentioning that the film used was Kodak Gold, but the pictures are so saturated, they look like Ciba prints.... I guess I'm just jealous because my prints never have color that brilliant 😱

That struck me as well. The prints were so brilliant in color, I thought initially they looked like slide film (such as Velvia). Then again, India is a wonderfully colorful country.

 

[RML]

From about 8-9 years old, children start to view the world differntly than before, starting to realise more about the world, their position in it and the way other people view them. While they may not know any compositional rules, their perception changes almost by the day. It's fun to see their world view change through the photos they take.