Kids Photography: Empowering children through photography

Special interview with Naama Ben Simhon: Amazing photographer and photo-therapist

I met Naama 2 years ago when I wanted to photograph my daughter and our family. Since then, I follow her and get amazed with each project she starts and shares…

You will understand why in this article!

I also love photography, especially of kids, portraits…I take part in all possible Facebook photography groups.

I had to bring Naama amazing skill of empowering kids to my blog and asked her to answer some questions for me. I truly hope lots of parents will enjoy and learn from this amazing professional photographer!

Question 1: Please tell us what you do?

Answer:

“I am a photographer but bring my world to lots of special projects with lots of different age group.

Except taking photos of children, families in my studio, I started for examples a project called “2 girls -face -to-face”. This is a special project I run already for few years where moms and daughters meet thanks to the photography and bond, talk, ask, hug, love and learn on each other. My work starts with photos of the mom when she was a child and her daughter needs to interview her mom, not as a “mom” but as a “person” and get to know the human being behind the “Mom” title. There is a part where the daughter writes a letter to her mom and a part where the girl/daughter fantasize when she will be older..

Another project I run is empowering thanks to women models or female heroes who changed history. Each teenage girl picks a hero female from history she can connect to, learns about her, prepares a written essay about that female model. There is a last day when the girl come to my studio and get full make-up, dress-up and hair like that women she picked. We work on finding that model within us so if that woman had this problem, what would she do? what would you do different or similar? and by discussing thanks to that model, the teenagers find that strong women within them. It is very empowering.”

Question 2: How photography helps kids in your opinion or empower them?

Answer:

“Photography is a tool I use to connect with kids and adults, get empathic to their feeling. If a child feels shame, I will connect to that shame through situations where I felt myself ashamed. As a photographer, I am like a mirror and I use that empathy to create a mutual space where we both learn and grow. I am not the “photographer” and the child is the item to photograph but in that common space, we connect, understand each other and grow together. I feel all adults could and should be the kids mirrors that way to understand how the other feels and help him/her grow.”

Question 3: How often do you think is right to take photos of our kids? From what age? For what use?

Answer:

“The issue I see today is the importance of the outside and not the inside. People take pictures of “beautiful” children, when she is dressed nicely for example. I wish people will take pictures of growth and special moments. If the child succeeded in playing a certain piece in piano, take his picture there while playing for example or if we wish to get together/family pictures, get that moment of “togetherness”. In this selfie modern time, research show that there is no correlation between how much they photograph themselves and how good they feel about themselves, actually sometimes in the opposite! Taking selfie does not raise the self-love unfortunately because there are so much internal and external critics. We deal too much today with hiding things we do not like about ourselves instead of accepting them and learning to love ourselves with those parts as well. “

Question 4: What is phototherapy?

Answer:

“Photo-therapy, whish I teach and use in my work, is a communication tool that gets to the heart of a person through photography. A tool that helps talk about emotions, nature, image, a very early language we all feel and talk that comes from the unconscious. For example, if a teenager or a woman tells me she does not feel “pretty”, I will ask her to go to the nature and take a picture of something “pretty” in her eyes and lets say she took a photo of a beautiful flower. Then we will talk about the flower and understand all what that person repressed. A photo has no dimension. I can see a photo of an African old person and remembers my grandfather love and warmth for example or a person I met with wisdom that provided me a great feeling, no matter the time or place of that photo.”

Question 5: How do you use this tool with kids and teenagers?

Answer:

“With young children, it is much easier. The younger they are, the closer they are to their feelings and their world of imagination. and the more they know how to communicate it. They can say for example “I feel like a wolf!” I entered classroom of 5 years old and with images of lights, we discussed what they felt, the light within them, the people around them and which light reminds them of whom… That yellow light reminds me of mom because….”

With older kids, the challenge is to connect to their feelings and express them. They also are very critical to themselves. One might say “I did not do homework’s because I am lazy” and will not say “I am afraid to fail!”. The work there is first to better define their feeling and then use photography of something in the nature to express their feelings on themselves.”

Question 6: What can help bonding with my kid/teen/mom through photography? You are used to make mother/daughter or 3 generations images. What do you find out in this process? Please share what you experience, your learning.

Answer:

“Yes, I explained before how I do this. I love the 3 generations workshop! I ask the 3 generations to show their photos of age of 5 and we talk about what wisdom passed through the generations. All get a special task to take a picture of something and then we discuss what each chose to use. What I see, time after time, is the curiosity of the child and how much they want to learn more about the people behind “mom” or “grandma”!

Question 7: If my 10-12 y. old daughter loves selfies and posts herself on any social media daily, what would you recommend me to do or say to her?

Answer:

“I would definitely make sure there is a dialog at home on this matter. It will tell me that she needs to be seen and I would discuss with her the illusion versus the reality. We live in a era where most kids grow with social media so it is not only about an issue to deal with at home alone, me and her, but as a whole generation, a worldwide social issue. I would not blame myself but assure we discuss at home and try, once all discussed openly, to agree on some kind of fast, like a full day or a week without selfie. That way, she will learn to live without, get less dependent on it.”

Question 8: If my 13 y. old son hates being taken in picture, alone or with the family and refuses to join the frame ever. Any recommendations to help him and me?

Answer:

“First, I will leave him alone, not forcing him. If he feels anxiety, I would understand he feels not worth it, trying to hide from others. I would ask him to take pictures of us. I would use the camera as a tool for him to use. It is a very powerful tool children can use.”

Question 9: My 12 y. old daughter thought she is pretty only if photographed from a certain angle or looking down and not towards the camera. What do you do in this case to empower her and give her more self-esteem to believe in her own beauty?

Answer:

“I have to be honest and modest! I work with lots of 40 or 50 years old women who try to hide lots of aspects of themselves and still do not always succeed to make them love themselves. So teenagers during those tough years, I for sure do not change their self-esteem. What I do though, is explain to them that when we try to hide something, we look “not natural”. If you close your mouth because you hate your teeth, something else will look not natural. something is hurt in the whole image. I try to connect and understand their point of view. I will show them the pictures and hear what they like or dislike to try to make them happy with the results. I involve them more in the process. “

Question 10: Please share some tips for parents while taking pictures of their kids?

Answer:

“Your children are not your own”!

You cannot take pictures of them without getting their consent. By asking them for their ok, you teach them their right to choose and not just to satisfy me. I tell them “I trust you can make your own decision what is best for you.”

Naama is involved with younger as well as adults and elders, involved in lots of amazing projects around photography and empowerment, as well as relationships. She works mainly in Israel and face-to-face. She can be reached on her Facebook page here.