Adaptation

Photographer: Helena
Reviewed by Karel Polt
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902643390/

TH15 M355463 53RV35 T0 PR0V3 H0VV 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1N6 TH1N65! 1MPR3551V3 TH1N65! 1N TH3 B361NN1N6 1T VV45 H4RD BUT N0VV, 0N TH15 L1N3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1N6 1T 4UT0M4T1C4LLY VV1TH0UT 3V3N TH1NK1N6 4B0UT 1T. THR0U6H0uT 0UR l1V35 VV3 L34N N3W TH1N65 4ND VV3 0FT3N F0R63T H0VV 0UR M1ND 1S VV0ND3RFULLY P0VV3RFUL 1N 4D4PT1N6. 50M3T1M35 T0 0UR 4DV4NT463... BUT 50M3T1M35 T0 0UR D154DV4NT463. TH3 VV4Y H3L3N4 H4S P1C3D UP D3T41L5 1N H3R 5URR0UND1N65, TH4T 6R0VVNUP5 VV0ULDN'T N0RM4LLY N0T1C3, 1S 4N 3XC3LL3NT 3X4MPL3 0F TH15.

Piiritu Armastus

Fotod: Khobhi
Mõtted: Madli Maruste
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626778030351/


VÄRVITELEVIISOR

VÄRVIKAART

VÄRVUKE

PIIRITSOON

PIIRIVALVUR

PUHAS PIIRITUS

KATTEVÄRV

VÄRVIPIME

VÄRVI ISE

PIIRITU ARMASTUS

VÄRVILINE MAAILM

Laps, kes tahab teada

Fotod: Loore
Mõtted: Helen Tootsi
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902627832/

Mitu kortsu on vanaema näos? Miks proteesid peavad olema öösel vee klaasis? Kust tulevad patsikummid? Millal mina vanaks saan? Ja üldsegi, kust tulevad lapsed?Austraalias tulevad nad õllekannu põhjast, New Yorgis väidetavalt kooruvad munadest. Max ütles, et kui sa oled juut, siis rabid munevad lapsi, kui sa oled katoliiklane, siis munevad nunnad lapsi ja kui sa oled ateist, siis noh... pidavat olema prostituudid. Mis on prostituudid?

Küsisin ema käest, et kuule, kui asjad on nii, nagu Max ütles, kas siis tegelikult Saaremaa lapsed ei tulegi kapsalehe alt? Ema ütles, et meil on kõigil oma DNA ja see on suts keerulisem....see laste maailma ilmumise asi. Ma vaatasin ükskord küünlaleeki ja mõtlesin, kas küünlal ka on seesama DNA värk. Hästi tihti ja hästi salaja ja väga vaikselt sulatasin neid küünlaid, et saaks vedelasse vahasse sõrmejälgi suruda. Mõtlesin tollal, et niimoodi saan ma alati oma väikesed sõrmed alles jätta ja kogusin neid väikeseid vahapaate. Igaks juhuks, et kui sõda tuleb, äkki läheb vaja.

Vanaisa ikka rääkis sõja aja lugusid ja ütles, et siis pidi kõike kokku hoidma ja koguma. Sest tollal ei saanud nurga peale poodi minna ja makarone osta. Ma siis säilitasin neid sõrmejälgedega vahapaate ja mõtlesin, et nendega saaks raudselt talve üle elada. Kuidagi ikka. Vanaisa on raudselt uhke! Ja ühe puust looma voolisin ka eile. Talle teen homme vahakausikestest saapad.

Aga vanaema, kust mina siis tulin?

Nondigitally Estonian

Written by Lee Slaymaker

As an adult photographer I am aware of particular rules used within the medium to create images with impact and drama, to create tension and contrast, or to convey an idea of my choosing through the work I produce. Yet these images, produced in collaboration with Karel Polt at the Eesti School, go beyond these conventions, ignore the rules and instead create something altogether more dramatic: personal meaning.

Common themes run throughout each project, with flowers and trees being significantly represented throughout, and it is in this that we can see the participants beginning to develop an insight into the aesthetics of beauty, and taking their first steps to becoming artistically literate individuals with an understanding of how their work interacts with dominant ideologies and discourses within our society. However despite these common themes we can also see that each child’s project is unique in the way that significance is given to the objects photographed. This gives us a direct insight in to how each of the children participating in this project views the world around them.

Whether it is Oskar exploring his home, toys and relationship with his younger sibling, or Kymbali’s exploration of her local area and the sights seen around her in the city, each of these projects evokes within me a nostalgic reminder of my own childhood and the way in which I sought to understand the world around me. In this sense these projects are deeply personal and yet also universally relevant; each highlights the relationship that the children in the project have with their own environments and the people that play a significant role in their lives, whilst also evoking memories of similar moments of intense fascination from our own childhoods. As a result these images are heavily layered with the child’s own sense of self-identity, with the focus of each photograph being not on the aesthetics, nor on how it might be viewed by others, but instead on capturing images that have intensely personal subjectivities; essentially each image was shot because it was of interest to the photographer, and held value to them.

It is in seeing the way that the children assign worth in this way that we gain an unpretentious view of their world, completely honest in its representation and lacking guile. This project is both beautiful and humbling, and I tip my hats to the young photographers who have produced so effortlessly what countless professionals spend many hours seeking to fake or fabricate.

Lilled

Fotod: Rosie
Mõtted: Eia Uus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626777806261/

Miks lapsed pildistavad lilli? Kust lapsed teavad, et lilled on „ilusad“? Kas me oleme neile öelnud: näe, vaata, kui ilusad lilled? Või on see ürgne sissekodeeritud teadmine, mis on evolutsiooni käigus meisse kirjutatud? Ka lapsed näevad unes kõrgelt kukkumist... kuidas?
Nende noorte fotograafide argipäev ei saaks olla erinevam minu lapsepõlvest, ometigi tekitab iga pilt sügava nostalgia aistingu. Kõik tundub nii suur ja ise oled seal kõrval nii väike. Oled unustanud selle tunde, unustanud tõsiasja, et sa oledki ise väike, olgugi ei „täis kasvanud“.Looduslikud hallid, pruunid, beežid, roosad, uimased rohelised vahelduvad valjude karjuvate punastega, enamasti inimese poolt tehtuga – bussid, tuletõrje, postkastid, sportautod...
Nendes piltides on nii palju ilu ja mängulist tõsidust. Süütust, lihtsust, ja justkui väga teadlikku kompositsiooni. Maailmas vaid ilu hoiab meid.

Sadam

Fotod: Kymbali
Mõtted: Lea Jalukse
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902630240/

Märkasin ühel päeval üllatusega teeviita Tallinnas Liivalaia tänaval. Teeviit oli nagu iga teinegi, vasakul on Pärnu ja Haapsalu, otse ees kesklinn, aga parempoolsele viidale oli kirjutatud „Sadam“.No mis seal siis ikka. Sadam seal ju tõepoolest ongi. Laevad sõidavad Helsingisse ja Stockholmi. Aga omalegi üllatuseks tekitas see väike sildike minus väga tugevaid tundeid. Sadam - mida kõike see meie jaoks tähendab.Kesklinna liiklusmöllus seistes tundsin hetkeks oma seljal kuumal suvepäeval rannaniidu niitmisest tekkinud higi ja lihasevalu, kui selja sirgu ajan, vikati vartpidi rohukamarasse löön ja käe päikest varjates laubale tõstan, et merele vaadata. Kas ta tuleb juba, juustes meresool?
***

Kui mu isa veel poissmees oli, siis käis ta tihtipeale Meriväljal ujumas. Tal oli motoroller, millega õe poolt külast tulles rannas peatuse tegi ja ujuma läks. Isa armastas tõmmata kopsud õhku täis ja ujuda vee all nii kaua kui jaksab, et siis puristades pinnale tulla. Seda mängu mängisin minagi lapsena lainetuseta rannavees. Eriti huvitav oli silmi lahti hoida ja mere põhjas virvendavat vetikametsa vaadata.

Aga mu isa – tema kohtas Meriväljal ujumas käies peaaegu alati nõukogude piirivalvet. Ujuma minnes polnud neid kuskil, aga välja tulles tiirutasid rannal motorolleri ümber.

Siis pidi isa seletusi andma. Ühel korral küsiti temalt: „Kas te siin akvalangisti nägite?“ „Ei,“ vastas isa. Tal oli piisavalt oidu mitte seletada, et sukelduja oli ta ise. Sellegi poolest eskorditi ta piirivalvekordonisse, sest tal polnud isikut tõendavat dokumenti kaasas ja kästi seletuskiri kirjutada. Enne ta ei vabanenudki kui mu tädimees kohale läks ja tunnistuse andis, et mu isa on elu aeg nõukogude kodanik olnud ning aitas tal vaevalt pool tundi enne tabamist betoonist sillutiseplaate valada, mitte ei ole lääne allveelaevalt saabunud dokumentideta spioon. Tädimees oli vapper mees, et sellist tunnistust anda julges.***
Ja siin ta nüüd siis on – see Sadam – teeviit keset Tallinna linna. Kõnni mere äärde ja ära karda kinnipidamist.
Nagu avatud uks.
Nagu lehvitav sõbrakäsi.
Nagu merelt naasev armastatu.
Mine!
Tule!
Astu läbi!
Aga valgete laevade igatsus püsib meie meeltes.
Ka minu põlvkonna meeles.
Ka Sinu põlvkonna meeles,
kes Sa läksid
ja võibolla tuled
või astud läbi.

Tristan

Photographer: Tristan
Reviewed by Reno Hekkonens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626777790851/

My first impression was that Tristan lives in the countryside, not in London. As I have less knowledge of London’s suburbs, I assumed that Tristan lives in Brighton – as the seashore is visible on one picture. However, the boy doesn’t seem very fond of the sea – we see only one photo taken on the beach. On the other hand, what he seems really fond of is nature and its creatures.For a child, Tristan has taken very beautiful nature shots – some at the sunset, some by the river and some from park life. He already has an exquisite taste for the details – photo of the lonely bench in the park can tell the whole story. He is indeed a very poetic soul and a good observer. There are no pictures of other people, so we can expect that he’s spending a great deal of the time alone. His glimpse of park life – a squirrel, caught in the act, tell us that the boy loves animals and is interested in their life.The one and only photo showing the actual town conjuncture is a street photo - a well-combined picture with an entire gamma of details. There is a line of cars, a great angle of the street itself as well as the seriatim of houses. Again, a leisurely photo without people around.As we can see Tristan loves the twilight. The best photos are taken when the sun is setting. He has good spots for playful light between day and night. Two photos are just fabulous – Tristan has photographed the old iron gates leading from alley-way to the park and red-brick decorative gates somewhere in the park, half-hidden under uncared flora. Just like the lonely bench photo, mentioned earlier, these gates are real story-tellers.The boy has an eye for details. And not just for the random details – he loves decorated and beautiful pieces. Some photos with garden-pedestals are taken from a good angle and combined well. Photos are taken probably in February or March, so we can’t see flowers or any green florals on the pillars and columns. Deserted embellishments of the garden seem as a set for a movie.With all that I have seen on Tristan’s set, I am impressed. Special moods, the colours and places that we see on the photos are more likely to belong to a grown-up person rather than a boy. His intimate, yet not revealed world, tells a different story and it is an interesting one.

Robbi

Photographer: Robbi
Reviewed by Devon Buchanon (Entrepreneur from London)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626777808427/

I found this project incredibly endearing and inspirational. Browsing through the photographs I became acutely aware of the children's perspective of life in this city. I suspect that the camera enabled them not only to explore and express their inner artistic talents but it also felt as if they were being given a moment to be very still and silent.

The sheer process of using the camera almost seemed to create a feeling of childhood meditation, contemplation, tranquillity and reflection. It was astonishing to see that most of them were drawn towards observations about the qualities of light and darkness, nature and the city or just simply a simple message scrawled upon a wall proclaiming "I love you".All of the photos were a joy to look at and Robbie's photograph number 20 of a beautiful blue sky was a great reminder to look up, to dream and see dragons and angels in the clouds sky as we all did in our childhood.

Matias

Photographer: Matias
Reviewed by Marju Vaher
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626778021421/

Matiast paelub linnakeskkond. Fotode ühiseks tunnuseks on liikumine, minemine, tulemine, ootamine, lootmine, pidev valmisolek. Teisalt võib enesele esitada küsimuse: "Kas ka jõudmine?"Tuleb uskuda, et kusagil on peidus miski, mida me alati ei taju, ent mis sisendab lootust, et igaüks jõuab kord selleni, mida otsib. Olgugi selleks erinevad ja mõistetamatud teed.

Oskar

Photographer: Oskar
Reviewed by Marju Vaher
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626778016387/

Oskari fotode ühendavateks tunnusteks on mäng kujunditega ning mäng geomeetriliste objektidega.

Autor jälgib ning dokumenteerib sündmuspaiku, osutades oma fotodega hetkedele, kus iga pilt märgib sümboolselt tema isiklikku lugu. Ülesvõetud kaadrid teeb salapäraseks asjaolu, et lisaks silmaga nähtavale on igal kujutatud objektil (ja subjektil) oma seos autoriga, mida ilmselgelt teab Oskar, kuid mida vaataja võib vaid ette kujutada, arvata, väita, oletada jne. Oluliseks muutub visuaalsete kujundite lugemine, mis teeb vaataja rolli nauditavaks.Oskari kõige silmapaistvamaks fotoks on geomeetriliste kujundite kompositsioon, mille tuumaks on laelambid ning nendevaheline peegeldus. Tuntav on kubistliku vormi konstruktiivsus, mida toetavad minimalistlik lahendus, kujundite ja peegelduste omavaheline rütm ning nende tonaalsus. Kogu kompositsiooni teeb eriliseks tühjade pindade julge kasutamine.Oskari fotod on südamlikud ning neis on palju ainest edasiminekuks.

Annette

Photographer: Annette
Reviewed by Robert Randma
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902650214/with/5806176718/

From distance

It’s a world of perspectives, a world of angles. Before you approach a person or an object, there’s always a point of choice as there is one when giving values to things you see. Colours, shapes, contrasts, the environment it’s in, the space that surrounds it, the solidity of a single object in a vastly saturated world.
Approaching

It’s a world of textures, a world of colours and secrets. Once you approach a person or an object, you develop a dialogue during which you choose what to see and what not. Choice of attention, choice of how you perceive the world. Is it details you see? Tiny splinters and lines in small blossoms that all generate patterns on their own?
Eye to eye

It’s a world of stories, a world of identities. Once you get very close to a person or an object, you’re no longer observing it. There’s no division of roles anymore – you will start to feel its vibrations, its life. Touch. Touch of minds, of beats, of frequencies, a meltdown into one.
Leaving

It’s a world of memories, a world of stories untold – a curtain behind a curtain. There’s always something you don’t see or cannot feel, an emotion unexpressed or a frequency you weren’t adjusted to. You will then choose to either seed this moment in yourself or bypass it.
Archiving

It’s a world of change, a world of sharing and of listening. It’s a choice of how your moment will settle. Will it settle? Would you have liked something to be different? What is it you learned? Do you want to change the object or yourself? What kind of a person are you – one that wants to change the world or perhaps yourself?

A surreal story

Photographer: Iris
Reviewed by Sindy Püssa
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902641452/

The composition of this image is just perfect. (photo #05) Although the location seems to be a park, nothing specific of a certain place is revealed and we are left with a poetic meditation, a beautiful image loaded with semiotic symbols which offer many different readings.
For example the use of shadows alludes to surrealism while the pigeons could be a tribute to Hitchcock. Although the composition is relying on one point perspective, which has its roots in classical painting, in this photograph we see lines that are more diagonal. This makes the image very dynamic, as the eye of the viewer is drawn towards the vanishing point, but failing to reach it, reverts back to focus on the pigeons. The pigeons, however, are in a dialogue with the shadowy figure. The contrasts within the gray tarmac are subtle and the image is almost monochrome with only a thread of vivid green grass framing the shot. Even though the image may seem still and peaceful at first it soon unveils its unfathomable story, leaving the viewer perplexed and somehow uneasy.

A metaphor of a child's everyday life, beautifully presented in 19 stills

Photographer: Alexander
Reviewed by Sindy Püssa
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/sets/72157626902652864/

This set of photographs is made up of a mixture of images that are both straightforward as well as shrouded in a veil of obscurity. The viewer sees it all, while not actually seeing anything specific. There are no people in these photos, we only see an occasional hand in the frame. Although almost all of the pictures are made at school or at home, thereby being very specific to this boy, the lack of the faces of parents, friends or the child himself in this set is what makes this story a universal one.

The photographs of the school, the house, his street and the nature are all clear and although they are of places special to this particular boy, they all have something so quintessentially London about each one of them that this set illustrates the life of a typical Estonian child living here. (photos #09,13,07)The way all the trees and bushes in the garden grow right up against the walls and artificial barriers is quite similar to the way a person might feel, growing up in a big city with millions of people around and with few open spaces around. Furthermore, the house seems to be just inches apart from the neighbouring buildings and the cars are parked on both sides of the street, creating a single narrow lane. There is an overall feeling of a lack of personal space and very little room to manoeuvre. An eloquent metaphor is the photograph of the arborvitae, struggling to thrive despite the black plastic right behind it, unmercifully bending it down. (photo #12)

The personal shots, however, are visually very different and the contrast with the outside shots is eloquent. The dog, his room, his hobbies and achievements represented by the markers and victory cup tell a very personal story. Although revealing a lot more of the boy, most of the detail is obscured by the grainy darkness. As if his beloved pet, his possessions and his space were far too private to be photographed clearly and put out there for everyone to see. The personal details remain barely perceivable, just like the map of Estonia on one of the photos, that can remain unrecognisable to someone for whom it has no personal significance and who does not possess prior knowledge of the contours of this tiny country. (photo #04)
But the fact that it is there makes a world of a difference to this boy. Just like all the other things that surround him each day it is a piece of the kaleidoscope that makes up his life and makes perfect sense to him. His world is laid out before us in this collage of snapshots. We just have to look harder, and there, behind the shroud of graininess, we will see a very personal story of a boy whose life may seem similar to, albeit of course being completely unique, the lives of all the other Estonian children living in London.

Nondigitally Estonian

photo by Karel Mati

Back in March of 2011 I gave a series of photography lessons in the Estonian School in London. It was a very general introduction into how to see the world differently and how to capture it with a camera. As part of the homework I gave each child a disposable camera to use over the course of one week. The assignment was simple - photograph your life in London!

26 children of Estonian origin, aged 4 to 14, all grown up amidst the digital world, had a camera with 27 frames, no other options but point and shoot and one week in their disposal. Needless to say, the results are fascinating!

There are two main aspects to this project:
First is the cultural aspect. Estonian children living in London, many from mixed families of various origins. It's intriguing to see how they portray themselves through the photographs they've taken. Albeit most photos have a clear London feel to them, every now and then there are hints of Estonian culture masked into the everyday objects of children's homes and families.
Second aspect is the clash of analogue photography with digital for people young enough never to have photographed onto film before. It is intriguing to see how children have approached the lack of immediate response and inability to correct their perspective. Some children have clearly forgotten that their medium at hand is not endless, and therefore used up their frames for the same subject. On the other hand, it is clear that others have had trouble using up all the frames as they are forced to calculate the importance of each and ever click, ending up with just a few beautifully composed images.

The aim of this blog is to collect impressions of artists, writers and thinkers on the various subject matters present on the children's photos. With their kind permission, I will use these short essays for the upcoming exhibition in October 2011 simultaneously in London and in The European Capital of Culture 2011 - Tallinn.

The children's works are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karello/collections/72157626902166208/