Sickie Saturday
Ugh- managed to go all winter without fully succombing to whatever scourge was going around. Not this time... woke up Tuesday wif a sore froat. Throughout the day it started to feel worse, then the body aches started. Came in on Wednesday because I knew a project at work needed my input and it was on a tight timeline. Thursday, however, took a much needed sick day. a real sick day where I stayed in my pj's all day, watched a girly movie in the morning ("Little Black Book", fyi- Holly Hunter was great as usual, the rest was rather amusing, but not earth shatteringly great or anything), ate leftover garlic-loaded chicken rice soup that I made on Tuesday, drank tea with honey and slept. First on the couch, and then in bed. Made a real difference! Yesterday, feeling significantly better, I cleaned the house, did laundry, took a nice bubbly whirlpool bath, ran errands and went to see the Oscar winning documentary, http://kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/ "Born Into Brothels".
I could see why this won so many awards, including the Oscar. I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it yesterday afternoon. Wanting to purchase on of the photos, done by Suchitra, entitled "cat" http://kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/ (click on the second page and the picture of the cat), but it's $250 for the smallest print. I think I will have settle for purchase of the book, instead- plus it'll have photos taken by the other kids as well as helping out with their education. What the founder/documentarian Zana Briski did kind of reminds me of what my friend Gin started right here in Baltimore with Wide Angle Community Media (see "links"), which is to take at risk kids and teach them a format to express themselves through media- whether it's photography in the case of Kids With Cameras, or video and film in the case of Wide Angle.
A big difference being the state of poverty in which these kids live. But is any one state of poverty any more palitable than another?
After all those years dressing sets in some pretty bleak locations in Baltimore and DC- housing projects, crack houses, etc... what I saw in the Red Light District of Calcutta very much reminded me of blighted areas right here, closer to home, where drugs, prostitution, filth, and destructive life patterns and poverty is passed on from generation to generation like some tragic legacy. As far as schools... although I was a product of Baltimore City Schools, as were my brothers, and we all came out fine- what about the state of them now, some 30 + years later? They are on the brink of bankruptcy, with teen pregnancy, firearms and hard drugs are commonplace. Yeah- we might've smoked some weed out on the playground on occasion, but we also brought home A's & B's and expected that we would go on to do *something* with our lives.
A big influence for me was attending the Baltimore School For The Arts- their motto now is even "Where the Arts change kids' lives"- and how true that was. I went to High School with kids from really rich tony neighborhoods like Roland Park and Homeland, along with kids from the O'Donnell Heights projects and blighted areas in Penn North. I'd been in homes in both, seen people being brought up in ways I couldn't imagine- both more opulent and also much poorer-but all of us kids were friends- rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, it didn't matter, we were all bound by our passion for our various artistic endevours. Much like the scene in the film, where young Avijit goes to Holland for a special exhibition and meets kids from the around the world. These other children are fascinated by what he sees with his camera's eye, as he is by seeing his breath in the cold Amsterdam air. In one scene, you see him having fun and joking around with the other children. There they are- bound together by their universal humanity, and by their art. Coincidentally, I now work a block away from my old High School. They are expanding into the building next door. I wish them well.
As I also wish well those kids in the film. I do hope that they manage to open the "Kids With Cameras" school. I most worry about Suchitra. It was her photos that appeal to me most (could it be the cats? ;-) ). I suppose I like her concise, well composed, clear shots. At the end of the film, it said that she was not enrolled in school. The right schooling, the right encouragement, can change everything. Art can change kids lives.
Please take the time to visit the websites linked above. If this film, "Born Into Brothels" is playing in your city, go see it. If there are similar programs set up in your city, contribute when finances allow and/or offer your time and expertise if you have it to offer.
My next post shall be more personal, but I just had to put this one "out there".
Happy Easter for those that celebrate it,
Beth
I could see why this won so many awards, including the Oscar. I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it yesterday afternoon. Wanting to purchase on of the photos, done by Suchitra, entitled "cat" http://kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/ (click on the second page and the picture of the cat), but it's $250 for the smallest print. I think I will have settle for purchase of the book, instead- plus it'll have photos taken by the other kids as well as helping out with their education. What the founder/documentarian Zana Briski did kind of reminds me of what my friend Gin started right here in Baltimore with Wide Angle Community Media (see "links"), which is to take at risk kids and teach them a format to express themselves through media- whether it's photography in the case of Kids With Cameras, or video and film in the case of Wide Angle.
A big difference being the state of poverty in which these kids live. But is any one state of poverty any more palitable than another?
After all those years dressing sets in some pretty bleak locations in Baltimore and DC- housing projects, crack houses, etc... what I saw in the Red Light District of Calcutta very much reminded me of blighted areas right here, closer to home, where drugs, prostitution, filth, and destructive life patterns and poverty is passed on from generation to generation like some tragic legacy. As far as schools... although I was a product of Baltimore City Schools, as were my brothers, and we all came out fine- what about the state of them now, some 30 + years later? They are on the brink of bankruptcy, with teen pregnancy, firearms and hard drugs are commonplace. Yeah- we might've smoked some weed out on the playground on occasion, but we also brought home A's & B's and expected that we would go on to do *something* with our lives.
A big influence for me was attending the Baltimore School For The Arts- their motto now is even "Where the Arts change kids' lives"- and how true that was. I went to High School with kids from really rich tony neighborhoods like Roland Park and Homeland, along with kids from the O'Donnell Heights projects and blighted areas in Penn North. I'd been in homes in both, seen people being brought up in ways I couldn't imagine- both more opulent and also much poorer-but all of us kids were friends- rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, it didn't matter, we were all bound by our passion for our various artistic endevours. Much like the scene in the film, where young Avijit goes to Holland for a special exhibition and meets kids from the around the world. These other children are fascinated by what he sees with his camera's eye, as he is by seeing his breath in the cold Amsterdam air. In one scene, you see him having fun and joking around with the other children. There they are- bound together by their universal humanity, and by their art. Coincidentally, I now work a block away from my old High School. They are expanding into the building next door. I wish them well.
As I also wish well those kids in the film. I do hope that they manage to open the "Kids With Cameras" school. I most worry about Suchitra. It was her photos that appeal to me most (could it be the cats? ;-) ). I suppose I like her concise, well composed, clear shots. At the end of the film, it said that she was not enrolled in school. The right schooling, the right encouragement, can change everything. Art can change kids lives.
Please take the time to visit the websites linked above. If this film, "Born Into Brothels" is playing in your city, go see it. If there are similar programs set up in your city, contribute when finances allow and/or offer your time and expertise if you have it to offer.
My next post shall be more personal, but I just had to put this one "out there".
Happy Easter for those that celebrate it,
Beth
posted by Beth @ 8:03 AM
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