In the news, we often try to represent the children’s point of view, but it is not very often that the children get to express their point of view for themselves. However, on Friday, August 7, five Sderot children got the opportunity to do just that through the Shotetut (Loitering) exhibit, a photo exhibit they directed and produced themselves.
Each child presented four or five photographs they took using digital cameras provided by the Sderot Media Center.
“The exhibition presents the children’s point of view from within their city,” Haim Biton, 28, who helped coordinate the project.
Haim is Sderot reident and Sapir College Graduate who majored in photography engineering. After graduating, he decided to teach photography to children to help them acquire a taste for the profession. As part of this endeavor, he designed a curriculum, which was approved by the Sderot Community Center and eventually turned into the Shotetut exhibit, which was sponsored by the Gvanim Association and Magbit Canada (United Israel Appeal of Canada).
Photo:Hamutal Ben Shitrit
The photos focus on different aspects of the street and the city.
“Some children chose to concentrate on the security situation: Bomb shelters, Qassam missiles, Red Color, etc.,” Haim said. “Others chose to concentrate on the small moments of the city life, and the nuances which make up the city life.”
Notably, the boys’ photos had a tendency to focus on the security situation, while the girls’ photos tended to focus on the nuances of everyday life in Sderot.
“t’s important to carry on such activities in Sdeort, and encourages the establishment of another exhibition,” Haim added.
