Constantly on the look-out for ideas that can complement the creativity underpinning our programme, we're delighted to present our Artist in Residence project.
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Our 'artist' - freelance photographer Sean McEwan - found himself enthusiastically aided and abetted by all the children of TCG Green Community, from the youngest two year old to the oldest six year old. Everybody threw themselves into being photographers and models on the photoshoots Sean organized, with many children assuming the mantle of these two roles with consummate ease! |
A new and exciting venture for TCG, this entire project resulted from parental desire to put funds raised from the Spring Fair to good use. Class mums came up with the idea of an Artist in Residence. It was then decided that digital photography would be an exciting art form to explore, as this had the potential to produce instant and exciting results. It also meant we could offer the children an experience that was very different from the painting, drawing, collage and 3-D work that they already explore so thoroughly in class and in the art room under the expert guidance of Miss Isabell.
| Given the tender age of our children, we then needed to find a photographer with the personality and attitude to be able to work successfully with them, and were delighted when Sean McEwan, a professional, Dubai-based, freelance photographer with exactly the outlook we needed, kindly offered to roll up his sleeves, give up a large chunk of his time and work with our children over a period of five days, during May this year. |  |
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Following a brief introduction to what the work of a photographer involves, Sean invited the children to join him on a photo shoot around school, and he and Miss Isabell worked closely with small groups to show them what they can do with a camera as we set about capturing ‘TCG in Motion’! The children had great fun, both as photographers and models, capturing their friends in the following ways: running; jumping; skipping, doing cartwheels; playing football; swinging on the ropes and swings. |
Every child in the school had an opportunity to handle a small digital camera, take some pictures and then see how those pictures travelled from the camera to the computer, then from the computer to the printer (from where they emerged, amid great excitement, in class) and then, rounding off the whole photography process, appearing in the exhibition which marked the end of the project.
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Children's quotes
To get a better idea of how the children reacted to our Artist in Residence project, click here to find out (and enjoy!) some of the things they said!
| Photographic evidence of the fun we all had TCG mother Rachel Stamp helped us document the project, photographing the process and recording some of the observations made by Sean and the children. Click here to see her photos and see the enthusiasm with which everyone threw themselves into the project. |
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The children's photographs
The links below will show you just what the children were able to achieve as they took control of their own camera and set about capturing images of their friends...
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Pre-nursery photos |
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Nursery photos |
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PS 1 photos |
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PS 2 photos |
Sean's photographs
Click here to see some of our resident photographer's own images of 'TCG in Motion'!
Media coverage
Click here to read what 7DAYS had to say about the project!
Do also have a look at other fantastic photos taken by the figurehead of this project, Sean McEwan: www.seanmcewan.com and www.thestudioatno1.com, or read his observations about the whole endeavour in the interview below:
Artist in Residence Interview
Along with some lovely images of TCG’s Artist in Residence project, we’ve also captured the thoughts of our artist, photographer Sean McEwan, following his time at TCG Green Community:
Sean: “I was watching The X Men the other day. This place feels like the school for those X Men children with all their amazing talents!”
1. What is it you’re doing at TCG Green Community?
I’m here to help inspire children learn from new experiences in the visual arts through introducing them to photography. Because of their age, I’m not getting bogged down in the technology; what I’m doing is getting them to notice visual things, and in different ways.
2. Why did you choose movement as your theme?
| I discussed it as a group with some of the TCG staff. ‘TCG in Motion’ made sense because we thought the children would like to run around a lot, plus creatively from my point of view, I’ve always found images with movement and motion in them a lot more interesting than some generic, static image of a lamp post or something. It’s a lot more interesting to be experimental and a really nice creative way for children to learn that things move and that we have to catch up with that. |  |
We did a slide show on the projector and expected the really young ones not to be particularly interested or to have much of an idea about what was going on. But they were. For them, it’s not about who took the picture; it was about “Oh look – that’s me” or “It’s my friend.” They knew what they’d done, which made the end result pretty exciting for them.
3. How have you found the experience?
It’s been a lot of fun and a journey of self exploration for me, too, in all honesty, I’ve never had to teach children anything or been responsible for taking note of how they react to photography itself, taking pictures, taking note of what they’re soaking in. Now I’m finding myself having to be as observant as possible about how they accept what I’m saying and what they’re doing. I’m noticing their acceptance of the camera – how long does their interest last? I’ve noticed that some of them are good at it and like doing it, but hand the camera back after taking only two shots. Is this because they’re nervous, or because their attention span is short…? I’m learning a lot about what to expect from children.
4. What’s the biggest lesson the children have taught you?
It’s OK to be silly. As an adult, we take ourselves very seriously and we’re very aware/wary of how other people perceive us, but when it comes to children you have to drop that completely because it doesn’t matter in their world. It actually gets in the way – it restricts you and your imagination. The Peter Pan syndrome works in a school environment! And at the end of the day, that’s what photography’s all about – coming up with new things, new ideas.
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Even pretending you’ve never done something before, when actually you’ve done it thousands of times, can help you can create something new. If you rely on experience every time, you tend to repeat yourself and miss out on the opportunity to create something new / a new perspective. Working with children this age is a good reminder for me about what it’s like to be really fresh. |
5. You started with Pre-nursery children. Talk to us about that experience and what you found they could and couldn’t do.
They were keen. Very keen. But the mechanics limited them – the physical job of holding and pointing the camera was a challenge, which really got in the way of the reality of taking photos. Their attention span was very short, but they were very keen. In fact, I felt that the really young ones were just as keen as the older ones – just limited by their lack of motor skills. But they enjoyed themselves, they liked it and found it very amusing – some would stamp their feet when they got a good shot. Most seasoned photographers don’t do that, so maybe I’ll try it, on occasion!
So they were keen, but we had to intervene quite a lot, helping them press the shutter button to make the picture work. They enjoyed the running around, jumping up and down and using the slides and sitting on the swings and driving their little cars…
6. Next was Nursery. Talk to us about them.
They were more free to move around and not be overly supervised. We had to watch absolutely everything Pre-nursery kids did, holding the camera and even clicking the button. With Nursery, they’d push my hand away and do it themselves, which was great. Their brief was to photograph their friends and create photos with movement in them. They understood the concept a lot more easily. I started to feel that they were really taking in what we were trying to do, which was great. And the older they get, the more they’re fulfilling the brief and running around, jumping up and down and getting into different positions, having fun taking photos. Art is a translation of your inner self projected through a medium, and the more somebody understands that translation, the more accurately they’re able to portray it.
It made me laugh when they pushed my hand off the camera so that they could do it themselves. I admired their independence. Not to say that their results were much different, but it showed a good amount of attitude. In photography, especially when you start out, you have to have a certain amount of attitude, because it’s something that carries you through – your interest and your self belief. You only take it up because you believe you have something, something to give. That mild arrogance is important. I think I’ve seen something of that buzz in a few of the children, but it’s too early to say for sure yet. Let’s see how many ask for cameras for Christmas!
7. Next was PS 1. Tell us about your impressions from working with them.
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They were quicker with the shutter button, so we were able to do things like play football with them, and other activities where the movement components were shorter in length. They didn’t need such a long run-up for everything, which made things quicker and highlighted the progression of development children go through as they get older and more competent and confident. |
8. And you finished off with PS 2. What struck you most about this age group?
They’re making their own decisions more and more about where in the playground and what they want to photograph. They know their own minds more and have more of an idea of the effect they want.
That said, some of the mechanics/interest wasn’t quite there with some of them. It’s hard to stereotype or generalize when it comes to children. Interest and engagement fluctuated from child to child throughout the whole project. The obvious thing is that, as the children got older, they understood it more.
Also, their interest and engagement was clearly influenced by what experience they’ve already had of cameras – some have never touched one before, while others have their own camera at home. It also made a difference when the children had been well prepared for this project – the older children had had longer to see me in and around school; some had really watched me working with the other children and asked their teachers questions, which made a big difference to their interest.
Again with the older children in particular, we learned a lot about the relationship between each other as photographer and models, and also as groups of models, especially when we were trying to jump together – there was a real sense of teamwork amongst the older children.
9. What has struck you most about working with the children?
| I enjoy their friendliness. They’re honest – they know and tell you what they like and don’t like, which is very important if you’re to be a good photographer/artist. It’s important to keep that sense of honesty. They don’t beat around the bush – they’ll tell you exactly if they don’t feel like it. Some of them get so excited and just laugh and laugh as they’re doing it and while they’re seeing the fruits of their work. It’s great to see such a clear emotional reaction to what they’re doing. It’s a very happy place here. |  |
10. What have you learned about working with children through watching how our teachers interact with them?
Yes. I think – that’s a difficult one – you have to drop your adult perspectives and just get on the floor and join them. That’s the best way for it.
11. How has the experience been for you?
When I first started the task, I wasn’t quite sure where I’d fit in or how it would unfold or where we’d be going, or what could be accomplished and what couldn’t. On the second day, I’d got a decent sense of it. Also, when I brought in my own camera, the children responded very well. I’m not a teacher, but I’ve realized I can help inspire children if they’re interested, so to create that interest it was important to bring my camera in to show them, visually, what I do – and they loved it when I then invited them to join me on a photo shoot to see what it was all about. This is how we billed it to them, and it really worked!
12. What HAS been the progression?
I got pretty excited to see how some of them started making the decision to hold the camera portrait instead of landscape, and started having ideas about how they wanted the composition to be, what makes sense, what’s a good idea. And there were instances when they’d be moving around and saying, ”No – I don’t want it like that; I want it like this.” That was great to see, because it shows that they understand about getting different perspectives.
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Perspective is a strange and powerful concept – I’m 32 now, sitting here watching the world go by, and sometimes things happen, or sometimes we can make things happen, that make our observations slightly different, which makes them so refreshing to see again. To notice things again in a different way is very important for everybody, I think. The older children were getting pretty good at that. And their influence enabled me to experience that sense of newness, too. |
13. What have you enjoyed most about this whole experience?
I’ve enjoyed the rock stardom that comes of being a teacher in a child’s world! Kids are fun to work with. A lot of people say don’t work with kids or animals, but that’s a complete fallacy – it’s just how close you can get to their world that determines how much you’ll enjoy it and how much you and they will get out of it. I’ve really enjoyed it.
14. What is it about TCG that reminded you of the school for talented children in the film The X Men?!
The relaxed environment. And I do feel you have really articulate teachers and children here who are really enthusiastic and happy. It’s a serene environment, even though there are hundreds of children here, all racing around with these super powers I’ve just experienced first hand. I’ve got to say, I’m glad I’ve been working out – it’s the only way I could have been ready for this, physically!
