By Cameron - 1 week intern
As a photography intern with a special interest in photographing people and communities, I arrived at this project excited to take photos around the village more than anything else. Along with this excitement, though, was apprehension about how my photo taking would be received. Putting a camera in someone’s face can be jarring for both parties, especially with little common language to explain what you’re doing. I remember asking Kanda on my first day, “How will people react to having their photos taken around the village?”, to which she replied “They will be fine with it”. I questioned further, “Is there anything specific I can do to be more polite?”, my anxiety over the idea of offending someone obvious. She assured me it would be no problem, but it took experience to believe it.
It didn’t take long to discover for myself that photo taking truly would be no problem. Not only was it accepted, it was welcomed, and led to the most precious moments of my entire experience. One day, working at base, I could hear the splashing, screaming, and laughing of the village kids swimming in the river. I grabbed my film camera and headed towards the bridge, hoping to capture a visual of the pure joy I was hearing. As I started taking photos from the bridge, I was greeted by waves, hellos, and whats-your-names. I chatted with them from above for a bit before deciding to head down the trail to the riverbank to join them. I got there, took off my shoes, and stepped into the water, playfully splashing with one of the kids. We talked as much as we could, exchanging names and ages. As I went to take another photo, they all squeezed together and posed for a big group photo. Later, when I began to walk away, I heard various sounds of protest behind me, so I turned around to see that one of my new friends was holding out a small piece of candy—a gift for me.
That evening, I interacted with many of the same kids during village litter pick-up. They recognized me, continuously pointing to my camera and posing, wanting to get more photos taken. I decided to raise them one higher, and asked if they’d like to try taking a photo themselves. I taught three of them to use the camera, a fully manual film camera made in the 70’s, and had them take portraits of each other. They ended up using the entirety of what was left on that roll of film. I’ve never been more disappointed to the hear the sudden stop of the film advancer, and I’ve never been more excited to see a set of images. There could have been nothing more special to me than to bond with these kids so deeply over the thing I am most passionate about. To have had the chance to share my knowledge, see their smiling faces pressed up against the viewfinder, and maybe even inspire a passion in one of them, is an experience I will never forget.
