Inner-city youth photograph kayak adventurer while learning about local environments

On Sunday, March 16, 2008, a group of children and mentors from Charleston: Kids with Cameras (CKwC), a volunteer photography mentor program that works with inner-city children, spent the afternoon with Ian Sanchez, Executive Director of South Carolina Lowcountry Environmental Education Programs (LEEP). Sanchez, who kayaked to the Aquarium for the meeting during the final leg of his on-water adventure to Greenville as part of the Web of Water project, has been paddling waterways from the Piedmont to the Lowcountry to help educate people about their relationship to the environment. With digital cameras in hand, the children anxiously awaited his arrival to the Charleston Harbor following his three-week expedition. During the photography session, Sanchez discussed connections with the boys and girls, including how waterways merge and how humans impact the Earth. The children were excited to discover that they knew much about local rivers, including their role in early farming and shipping practices, and listened intently to gather more information. Sanchez also pointed out the barges adjacent to the Aquarium as a visual of modern shipping.

CKwC youth were then given the opportunity to take photographs of one another sitting in Sanchez’s kayak. Though at first a bit intimidated by the new experience, the children’s confidences grew as they posed questions to Sanchez and discussed what they had learned.

Photographs from the session will be unveiled at the Charleston: Kids with Cameras exhibit at Charleston HarborFest 2008, which takes place May 16 to 18. The exhibit will also feature coastal scenes from around the Lowcountry. Video from the afternoon may also be viewed on SCETV’s RiverVenture website, www.riverventure.org.

Charleston: Kids with Cameras (CKwC), a volunteer photography mentor program that works with inner-city children, proudly recognizes six of its participants for their winning black-and-white digital images in the Coastal Carolina Fair photography contest, hosted by the Lowcountry Photographic Club. CKwC photographers (ages 7 to 14) took first and third place, as well as five out of eleven honorable mention awards in the student monochrome division, which is open to high school, middle school, and elementary school students.

Each photograph submitted was taken over the past year during shooting sessions with the CKwC program, which meets biweekly for photography outings and computer reviews. “You know that the kids really have talent when they are creating good photographs consistently,” says program coordinator and professional photographer Ron Rocz. Winners (below) received ribbons as well as monetary awards.

Zenobia Bennett
First Place Window Shopping
Honorable Mention The Christmas Parade

Herbert Simpson
Third Place Captivating Eyes

Karl Ramsey
Honorable Mention Bridge Biker

D.J. Fulton
Honorable Mention Citadel Checkers

DeAndré Murphy
Honorable Mention Angelina

Willie Duggins
Honorable Mention Nikell and Skippy

CKwC coordinator Natalie Todd was also awarded first place and honorable mention in the professional color photography division and third place in the professional monochrome photography division for images she took while on a mission trip in the Peruvian Amazon.