Photos taken by nursery school pupils of their ‘neighbourhood’ are featured in an exhibition showing how they experience the area from a child’s perspective.
Throughout the summer, small groups of ‘explorers’ from Greenfields Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Southall took a series of documentary walks to observe life in their community and engage more closely with their local environment.
An exhibition showcasing their work called ‘Our Neighbourhood’ opened before Christmas at the Dominion Centre in Southall, and it will be open until March.
Viewed from their unique perspectives, and using 35mm digital SLR cameras, Greenfields children documented their rich and diverse local area through its architecture, food, people, cultural pursuits, and religious and environmental practices.
The photographs included in the exhibition are entirely the work of individual children in terms of their choice of subject matter, camera handling, framing and point of view.
As well as showing off the children’s creativity, the school hopes the work for the exhibition will have extended their awareness and understanding of how communities operate and offered them opportunities to positively experience local issues that impact on their own daily lives.
Greenfields Nursery School and Children’s Centre was crowned Nursery of the Year in 2018 thanks to its ‘visionary work’, as described by a chief judge at a national awards ceremony.
Visitors to the exhibition are being encouraged to share their comments with the children by writing something in a visitors’ book at the main desk before they leave.
Selection of quotes left in the visitors’ book so far:
“Amazing pictures! Well done to the children and to Rosie and the staff. It is wonderful to be able to see our neighbourhood from the perspective of a small child. And the way they have picked out colours and textures is lovely. And thanks for displaying them so well.”
“It’s really nice to see such wonderful photos that the children have taken off and around Southall. Such amazing views captured. Thank you to the staff for giving children the opportunity to explore Southall through a different eye.”
“The fact that such young children are aware of their environment is brilliant and refreshing. It’s wonderful that they are aware.”
“An amazing display of the children’s photos. It’s lovely to see the environment and world from young children’s eyes. Great views captured – just shows the skills these young learners have in order to take such amazing photos.”
“It’s really wonderful to see life at 3 feet tall! I understand that the children really gave each image plenty of thought before snapping – something we as adults are losing the art of doing. It has been great watching the children re-discover their image on the wall, show their parents and choose a favourite. I really hope this gets to tour and Greenfields could even sell some of these amazing pictures.”
“I’m so pleased the wider community will be able to share these wonderful images with Greenfields. An interesting and creative project showing how involved young children can be when given the chance. Keep up the good work.”
Photos in gallery at top of page were taken by Rosie Potter.
