Modern Community Tree

I collaborated with some highly qualified school children, their teachers and parents at a local Chicago Montessori school. The children brought objects reflecting cultural heritage of their ancestors and showed them to the camera.  Working together they choose their backdrop, became the sun by holding the flash and pressed the shutter.  Once the work was printed we got out our trusty scissors, glue and string to make the portrait ovals.  Sticks from the shoreline of the Chicago river, sanded and wrapped in colorful yarn, blended the youthful faces with natural nesting materials.

Tying into the theatrical production of “We The People” each child brought in objects that conjured up memories of their ancestors and their traditions.  We set-up a photo studio where each child chose a background and sat with their objects while others helped with draping, lighting and technical consistency.  Together we cut, sanded and wrapped the wood; cut glued and string up the photographs.  Each cluster of five images contains three different versions of the sitting to emphasize the fluidity of our relationships with our history and our multidimensional children.