Blue Windows

Years ago I was inter­view­ing some­one for a job at Blue Windows and asked her the ques­tion “who do you admire most and why?”  Her response was Zana Briski, the founder of Kids With Cameras. I was imme­di­ately impressed by her answer and wanted to find out more about what she had told me. Anchal, the girl who ulti­mately got the job, ended up work­ing for me for sevaral years and I find it incred­i­ble that after all these years I chose the orga­ni­za­tion she orig­i­nally made me aware of.

Kids With Cameras Mission Statement:

“Kids with Cameras is a non-profit orga­ni­za­tion that teaches the art of pho­tog­ra­phy to mar­gin­al­ized chil­dren in com­mu­ni­ties around the world. We use pho­tog­ra­phy to cap­ture the imag­i­na­tions of chil­dren, to empower them, build­ing con­fi­dence, self-esteem and hope. We share their vision and voices with the world through exhi­bi­tions, books, web­sites and film. By link­ing with local orga­ni­za­tions, we work to strengthen the children’s edu­ca­tion and gen­eral well-being, pro­vid­ing finan­cial sup­port through sales of their prints or by devel­op­ing our own homes with a focus on lead­er­ship and the arts.”

“Kids with Cameras was founded in 2002 by pho­tog­ra­pher Zana Briski out of her work teach­ing pho­tog­ra­phy to chil­dren in Calcutta’s red-light dis­trict. We believe that pho­tog­ra­phy is an effec­tive tool in ignit­ing children’s imag­i­na­tion and build­ing self-esteem. We believe in the power of art to trans­form lives, for both the artist and the viewer.”

This month 5% of Blue Windows prof­its will go towards this orga­ni­za­tion. I believe in these chil­dren and believe they deserve oppor­tu­nites to be more than the envi­ron­ment they were born into. Please visit their web­site http://www.kids-with-cameras.org for more infor­ma­tion. The pho­tographs taken by the kids are for sale and the pro­ceeds go directly to their education.