Taking Pictures: Seeing themselves for the first time

A Story in Which Children Discover Cameras

            We grabbed our cameras, and the ladies of the group our skirts, and followed Abdi, the ranger, and Ingololo, a young Masai warrior (in training), down the red dirt road in a giant clump. Abdi requested we all stay together, the better to protect us. We trotted alongside Ingololo, and greeted the people who met us on the street.

            When we arrived at the boma, I’ve no idea what I was expecting, but the swarms of flies and children and baby goats were waiting, along with the womenfolk, and some of the boma’s warriors. As Ingololo showed us his village, a group of curious children slowly gathered around us. We snapped pictures, judiciously or not, capturing moments we wanted to store away.

            I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but the kids were swarming around Arthur’s camera, snapping photos as injudiciously as our photos probably seemed to them. They clustered around the screen, exclaiming over the images, and pointing excitedly at their siblings faces, on and off camera. It dawned on me this might be their first time seeing their own faces clearly.

I can’t help but think of my sister and I running around with those instant cameras and disposable cameras, trying to take pictures, and not trying at all. In our excitement, everything, including the carpeting and curtains, was worthy of recording. I still have some of the old pictures, and I’m sure I’ve tossed dozens more. We would pose, and have each other hold still long enough to click the button. Then we would anxiously flap the photo while it developed, watching the image magically appear to replace the grey or black rectangle.

Realizing one camera is never enough for that many children, I offered my camera, and watched, smiling, as they recorded their faces and homes. Cautiousness and shyness vanished when the cameras were in the hands of their siblings, and bright smiles replaced serious expressions. Eventually, I reclaimed my camera, and we headed back to camp, but not before lots of children were laughing and had seen their own smiling faces.

I can’t imagine the impact the cameras had on their lives, but I am sure they will remember our strange devices that let them see themselves.