In January of 2007 I undertook a project in collaboration with the New Orleans Kid Camera Project, a post-hurricane not-for-profit operating in New Orleans. I was invited to town to teach pinhole workshops to their 30-some members, all kids between the ages of 4 and 16.
In response, I fabricated over 30 4×5” wooden pinhole camera kits. Each kid got their own kit in a sack and assembled the cameras using all the parts included in the bag. Travelling from ward to ward for three consecutive weekends, all the kids (even the four year old!) eventually hand-built, painted, and exposed 4×5” negatives with their cameras. All the kids kept their cameras at the end of the session.
The link below is to a news story about the project that aired on the local CBS news affiliate in the Madison, WI, area. You will need to play the video from April 12th (all videos are chronologically liste don the lower right-hand side of the screen). It is the extended interview from the original news story that ran that day, so it is a little drawn out. I’m not comfortable in front of cameras :)
Please contact me with any questions, or if you need additional images of the camera or kids’ pictures.
Thanks!
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Apologies if I gave the impresison that the kids “hand-built, painted, and exposed 4×5” negatives” in the above description. They assembled and painted the camera kits, and then exposed 4×5” film inside of the cameras. Two seperate events :)