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/