Kauwi Primary. 2012.
In the summer of 2012 I set off on my first real travel experience: it was to Kenya to take part in a volunteer program to teach english and math at the Kauwi primary school in Kitui. Over the six weeks of volunteering, I grew very fond of the children who were always smiling and affectionate. In my last few days I decided to bring my camera to school and take some photos of my students, and what followed was this series. The simple act of photographing my students turned into quite the event. It was not long before all the students in the school lined up to have their photos taken. It was then that I decided to do a series of school portraits.
The idea for the school portraits was inspired by my memory of “photo day” when I was in elementary. It was a fun day, a chance to joke around and get out of class. These kids didn’t know the feeling of photo day so I wanted re-create that with them. The children were very eager and happy to line up and take part in the work.
