Preschool Photography Donation, Florida, January 2018
Silent Hunter Crew: Annie Guttridge
Hurricane Irma left a small preschool with a large bill of damages, and our hope was to create a new, positive and exciting feel in the children’s busy science lab as cheerful distraction from the storm, and a warm welcome back.
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Backstory: Art is a powerful medium for inspiring passion and communicating the beauty and diversity of our natural world. Art touches adults and children today as it has for centuries. Underwater photography is especially captivating, as it brings the undersea world up onto dry land. Being surrounded by this imagery on a daily basis, and contemplating the impact of visual art caused us to ask ourselves some questions. Could we influence a group of small children by simply displaying wildlife imagery on a classroom wall? Would the children enjoy viewing the pictures, and would they feel motivated to learn more about life beneath the waves?
Annie and Tristan have two young children of their own, and are extremely aware of the impact adults have on the children around them. With this in mind, Annie combined her passion for photography with her passion for education, and set out to buy canvases to hang in the science lab of the local school. Annie donated her time and imagery, and in the process of realizing this project, found a printer willing to bring the images to canvas at their cost to support the cause. This partnership brought seventeen amazing images of underwater wildlife to the main working classroom of a school in Florida.
This exciting project came together quickly, but offers long term results. The experience of the children attending daily classes at the lab will be enhanced by the stimulating imagery, and this will continue as new children come and go in the future. This constant progression will see hundreds, if not thousands of students enjoying the wildlife images for many years to come.
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Before
On releasing the project idea, funding was secured by general public donations within four days; our vision was in motion. Next steps included pricing, sizing and quality of canvas to ensure all funds were spent fairly, and wisely.
With funding in place, Annie discussed image content with the school principle. They agreed a mixture of wildlife portraits, complimented with freedivers in action would be an excellent combination, and would balance the classroom walls well. Our hope was for the children to not only enjoy the wildlife, but to also imagine themselves as the divers within the prints; free and wild, enjoying the treasures beneath the waves with no restrictions; everyone could be that diver….
With eleven images selected, all were sent to the printers for production. Of course, we were on countdown as we excitedly awaited the call, confirming a collection date
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During
The call finally came, and Annie excitedly travelled to collect her work. On arrival she inspected the canvases and was thrilled with the results!
On carefully filling her car to the brim she immediately drove back to the school to place the canvas’s on the wall herself. Equipped with wallplugs, screws, a drill, leveler, measuring tape, pencil and a ladder, it was time to eagerly get to work! Thankfully Annie had already debated, and planned where the images would hang so she placed them around the classroom and started to hang them, one by one.
Within three hours all walls were given an injection of life, and her vision had come to fruition. We couldn’t wait to see, and hear the teachers and children’s reactions the following day!
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After
Early on Monday morning Annie visited the school as she was desperate to hear the children’s thoughts. Of course everyone loved seeing the sea life, however interestingly the sharks took center stage, getting the majority of the attention, especially the charismatic hammerheads!
It was truly an incredible feeling witnessing the children’s enthusing and thankful responses. They were full of questions, and stories themselves as many had seen shows like Shark Week, so were keen to share their knowledge. We witnessed exactly what we’d hoped for, and there was an overwhelming sense of pride, and gratefulness to all who donated, and made this project a reality.
Lastly, Annie and the principle decided to add some basic text next to each image. A simple species title in both English and Latin, accompanied by a short, fun fact. This extra detail ensured all identification information was accurate, whilst also giving the children an insight into the Latin names that every species is assigned, another thought provoking topic to gain the children’s interest.
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“As most agree, children are our future and I hope my work, which they’ll view daily, will engage their minds and hearts whilst inspiring them to care, and connect with all creatures, large and small.”