Photos Capture Children’s View of Shelter Life

The pictures in a photography exhibit that opened Monday at the Sherman Oaks Library are similar to those you’d see at any art show. The images are well-composed, capture the mood of their subjects and are technically well-executed.

The only differences are that some of the photographers are as young as 5 years old and all are homeless.

Using black-and-white film, the children captured the lives of their families, their friends and employees at the Trudy and Norman Louis Valley Shelter.

The pictures, all taken by children 5 to 15 living at the North Hollywood shelter, will be on view until Dec. 2 at the library, 14245 Moorpark St.

The photographers are students in an unusual photography class at the shelter conducted by Van Nuys photographer Venida Korda.

Twice a month, Korda hands out automatic cameras to the 15 kids in the program, offers a few pointers on how to use them, then sets the children loose to take pictures in and around the shelter.

The shelter, located on Lankershim Boulevard, provides 80 apartments to those in need of emergency housing. Families may stay for up to 90 days.

The activity gives kids something positive to do and fosters self-esteem, say Korda and Allison Lee, an administrator at the shelter.

“Very often, homeless children don’t have a voice in what’s going on in their lives,” Lee said.

“This gives them a way to express themselves.”

And express themselves they do.

In one photograph, the lines of a telephone pole and bisecting power lines form contrasting angles, with further contrast created by a flat sky and a roughly textured wall. In another, a group of smiling children pose with their arms around one another. In yet another, a girl of about 5 or 6 stands at a gate, looking soberly at her chronicler, who also happens to be a 6-year-old girl.

“I like it because you get to take pictures of whatever you like to take pictures of,” said Abraham Higuera, 11.

Korda started the program in July, 1993, with a $2,100 grant from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, which renewed the program for this year. Musician Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame, is another sponsor.

Korda used to come by every week on Wednesday afternoons, but since the Los Angeles Unified School District discontinued its on-site school at the shelter about a month ago, she switched to every other Saturday to accommodate the students’ tighter schedules.

Although the project has continued in the same format for more than a year, the children still enjoy the activity, Korda said. When she arrives at the shelter for her sessions, she feels like “the Pied Piper.”

“I don’t know if they know about the impact of their photos,” Korda said.

“I tell them they’re educating people like me what their life is like in the shelter.”