Kids’ Candids
Lorraine Ponce learned to shoot good pictures as a 12-year-old student at Juniper Junior High School in Quartz Hill. She worked with a camera borrowed from a local nonprofit group, taking pictures of scenes around the Antelope Valley.
Currently a student in the College of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount University, she was invited recently to exhibit some of the pictures she shot as a preteen in a retrospective of children’s photography sponsored by the group Through Children’s Eyes Inc.
“I lived with the camera [for weeks] and took pictures then of what I thought was interesting,” she said last week before hopping a flight to attend a national meeting of the Society of Latina Engineers and Scientists in Washington, D.C.
The photos in the Lancaster show reveal her early interest in technology.
“I went on school field trips to see things not generally open to the public--Rockwell International, Rocketdyne Corp., Edwards Air Force Base, the Apollo 14 capsule,” she recalled.
She described one of her photos of a B-2 bomber: “I got pictures of people sitting under the plane to find shade. It was hot.”
Hers is but one of the stories behind the more than 150 photographs on display at dave.com Internet Cafe, which regularly holds traveling art exhibits in the Antelope Valley.
The show, “Seeing America--Through Children’s Eyes,” ends Feb. 11. It will next travel to Seattle and then tour the U.S. It contains pictures taken by children, some as young as 8, from all over America.
Earlier versions of the show have been seen at United Nations headquarters in New York and sites in Washington, D.C.
Young photographers from the Antelope Valley, the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County are well-represented in the Lancaster show because Through Children’s Eyes was founded in this area and is currently based in Quartz Hill.
Since 1982, program director Winifred Meiser has been linking school groups and youth clubs with professional photographers who have volunteered to provide free photography lessons. Companies including Vivitar and Fuji Film Corp. have donated materials.
“It’s a real positive use of the technology,” Meiser said. “Kids like being in charge of something like making a picture. It also makes them more observant of the community around them.”
The exhibit contains images of people at work in self-service laundries and paint factories, as well as police officers on duty and abstract scenes showing everyday situations from unique angles.
“Children see things that adults don’t usually notice,” Meiser said.
“We try to start them with a walkabout in their neighborhood to start thinking about things they want to take pictures [of].”
Visitors to past exhibits of these photos are frequently inspired to get their children’s school or club involved, Meiser said. The challenge is not so much to find a photographer willing to spend time teaching but rather finding an adult to run the class or club group during the learning sessions and photo excursions.
Anyone interested in participating can reach Meiser at (661) 943-0168.
BE THERE
“Seeing America-Through Children’s Eyes” Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Closed Sundays. Ends Feb. 11 at dave.com Internet Cafe, 1949 West Avenue L (Somerset Village Shopping Center), Lancaster. Free. (661) 949-0525.