"Try to look at everything through the eyes of a child." --Ruth Draper
Have you ever disappeared in a kindergarten class? When I first began photographing Tahir, his teacher told the class: “Victoria is doing her homework, pretend she is invisible” and from that moment on I became invisible to every child in that classroom. It made my job as a photographer easier because I was able to capture every moment without a second thought. Tahir is the most adorable child ever! I had so much fun getting to know him through photographs. Initially I started out photographing him and his brother, who is in fifth grade at E.K. Powe Elementary School. But I decided to focus solely on Tahir and his experience in kindergarten.
For this project, I took about 1000 photos, in 5 or 6 shoots. This documentary project taught me an immense amount about myself as a person and as a photographer. I was made to step out of my comfort zone often and had to rethink my style of photography. I know my photographic documentary skills have developed and have seen them emerge in other documentary projects I am working on. I am extremely excited about that and even more excited about this project.
I hope you enjoy taking time to get to know Tahir and his kindergarten experiences!