Youth Art Month: Ruby June's Lomogals

In this adult dominated world, we decided it was time to give the gals a shot! The LomoGals, that is. When LomoAmigo Ruby June came to us with an inspiring project which would allow some of her youngest friends to create a photo-a-day with the Lomo'Instant Wide, we couldn't resist this glimpse into playful creativity. Prepare to have your heart warmed!

Ruby June recently reflected on the idea for the project here:

When I got my first Lomo'Instant Wide I felt like a whole new world had opened to me. I decided that if one day I ever had kids I would get them their own instant camera and teach them to use it, giving them one photo a day. I thought about how much it would've meant for me to have something like that growing up. I think that having a camera, and that sort of creative freedom is really important at a young age.

"Throughout the year I started meeting these young girls on my travels, Mazie who was 9 in Connecticut, Luna, age 7, in Los Angeles and Marissa, age 8, in Taos, New Mexico. They all asked me if they could use my camera and so I gave them each one shot. It was so cool to see how each girl composed their photo. Luna was so excited about her pom pom cat we had just made and she set it up on the ledge of this chair and was so precise with how she wanted to frame the shot. Marissa wanted to take a photo of me and my dad and it was already dark out so I thought that nothing would show up in the background but she captured the most beautiful purple sky full of clouds that I never would've expected!

When I thought about it, I realized that it was silly to wait for my imaginary kids to start this project. God had already put these girls into my life for a reason! They were my Lomo Gals. I brought the idea to Katherine at Lomography NYC and she agreed it was a wonderful idea worth exploring."

"I put together a manual for the girls to read and explained all of the amazing features the camera has like light painting and double exposures. I really wanted the girls to think about the stories behind their images and so I made them a worksheet to keep track of their settings and to write a little story about each photo. The stories are almost the best part!"

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls, they have even taught me new things about the camera I hadn't noticed before. These girls (editor's note: and all children!) are smart, they are independent and they are the FUTURE. I wanted to focus on girls all under the age of 13 because I think that's an age where finding a passion and building your confidence in that is crucial so that as they enter their teens they don't feel like they have to build their confidence on how they look and what people around them think."

"They are artists. Their perspectives are fresh and they have a voice that the world has yet to hear."

"It's really interesting, I've noticed children often do a lot better with the instant pictures than adults do. Sometimes adults get hung up on trying to find the perfect framing and get to in their heads about it. Kids operate on instinct and they know what they want."

"When Luna was only 5 or 6 she asked me if she could take a photo of me with my Polaroid camera. In spite of what I thought was going to be a "good background" she insisted on stopping me in the middle of the bike path to get her shot-I knew better than to question the little artist in front of me so I let her take the shot. I'm telling you it was the best shot of the day!"

"I've been learning to not always take the advice I get from older people too seriously if it's coming from a jaded, pessimistic place-and on the flip side I've been learning to really listen to the little voices around me because they are so often full of wisdom and truth.

These girls are unstoppable and I can't say how much it means to be working with a company so generous, and so inspiring like Lomography."

Get the Lomo'Instant Wide from the Lomography Online Shop!

Are you a student or a teacher? Head on over to the Education Microsite and show yourself some love!

Youth Art Month may be ending but we at Lomography will never stop loving tomorrow's creators. Have an idea or project to share? Email us at education@lomography.com. And don't forget to enter the Great Student Photography Competition, open for just a few more days!

Scritto da Katherine Phipps il 2017-04-01 in #gear #persone #youth-art-month-education-kids-future-fresh-perspective-young-artists