My 5 year old daughter, Gloria, was recently gifted a Fuji Instax Mini on the day her newborn brother Silas was brought home. The camera came into Gloria's life as a way for her to see the potential for a relationship with her new brother (there had been many months of complaints at the coming of this unknown being into her life). Another mom had shared an idea with me - when a new sibling comes home, they can "give" a present to their older siblings, something that they somehow knew was their favorite thing to do or had been wanting. I can't tell you how happy I am that I listened. It delighted Gloria to no end to think that Silas knew she was there, already knew her favorite color (pink) and knew she had been wanting a camera that actually worked. This gift "from" Silas has given Gloria the opportunity to document her new life with Silas and learn how to care for something meant for a big kid. It's been so fun seeing all the ways Gloria has thought to use the camera and what she sees as being important moments worth capturing.
The moment she received the camera from Silas:
A series of self-portraits she orchestrated:
Gloria got really into in-home street photography style by surprise photographing anyone she could sneak up on in the house. In our sleep deprived state, everyone was over it. But in my street photography loving heart, I was so proud!
We've had lots of family over in the last few months and Gloria knows it's a special thing to have so many people over all at once. She would declare in the middle of dinner or as everyone was about to leave "FAMILY PICTURE TIME! EVERYONE, GET OVER HERE! STAND TOGETHER! NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE IN THE PHOTO!"
There have been many photos made of her favorite corners of the house and her room. Here are a couple that turned out:
And finally, the most important creature in Gloria's life; Bungee (or Qiqi depending on how long you've known Gloria for). The first three were taken by me after her camera was dropped and needed a few test shots. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Bungee portraits as the years go on.
