Capturing  innocence  

                                                                   by  Liz  Barry

       In my travels across the world, I have seen some amazing sights and the camera has been my tool

for recording these various scenes.  It is an instrument to break down the barriers and open the doors,

which I could never have imagined entering.

       I have been fortunate to spend several months in some countries as an Expedition Photographer.

Months instead of days affords me time to get to know my subjects, the landscape and the light.  Being

in a country for a period of time is a great opportunity to learn more about the place and it's people as

you work and live alongside them.

       Wherever I visit I am always drawn to photograph the children.  With a smile, a word or two in

the local language, some hand gestures and the willingness to sit and spend some time, pictures will

evolve.  The children are as curious about me as I am about them.  It is inevitable that a crowd will

gather and there will certainly be one amongst them who will pose for a shot and then it becomes a

game and other children will want to have their photo taken.  I let the children look through the

viewfinder so they will know what I am doing, even press the shutter and take a picture of themselves.

Gaining their trust by giving something of yourself brings its own special reward.  It provides the

opportunity to look around, searching for that one special face that has something very special to say.

It could be an expression, it may be a mannerism shy and unassuming or a look of sadness carried

in their eyes.

          This young girl caught my attention as she                                         I was drawn to the pair of sparkling eyes, 

          seemed so alone, just sitting head in hands,                                       which captures your gaze.  She is shy, a hand

          sad heavy eyes lost in a world of her own                                         grips the corners of the scarf, but she is curious

          thoughts.                                                                                             enough to peek and tease, as you know that

                                                                                                                        beneath lays a hidden smile.           

       As you observe, one or more of these elements catch your eye.  Then the shot you've been

looking for comes together.  If  a parent is around, I will ask permission to take a photograph and

should anyone object, because of his or her cultural beliefs, I always respect that.  I would say that

you have to be confident in approaching people so you can put them at ease and build a rapport.

I would never make a person feel uncomfortable should they not wish their photo to be taken.  I

will respect that too.  But, I find that most people and children will pose for you and gain something

from the experience.  You have to give something of yourself in exchange for that image that holds

your attention.

   It was early morning in the village of Halam in Oman.

                           This young boy was just standing on a raised mound

                           watching us.  His face was stern, not giving away

                           any emotions.  I approached with my camera, smiled

                           and gestured if I could take his photo.  He stood stock

                           still and the beautiful morning light lit up the mountains

                           contrasting his deeper complexion.

At the foot of an escarpment in southern Oman, stood a village only accessible by boat.  The

younger children were both afraid and fascinated by our arrival - their first sighting of fair skinned

people.  Shyness was soon overcome by curiosity when our early excursions to the village were turned

into a scene from the Pied Piper as an army of bare footed children followed in our wake, as we

returned to our tented beach camp.  Over the days they got bolder.  It was an opportunity to use the

English learnt at school, the boys to play football and all to feast on packets of cream crackers -

a mainstay of our rations.

       In Brunei, settlements exist in the heart of the rain forest, whose ancestors were headhunters.

Today's children step between two worlds, learning the ways of the jungle, participating in the hunter,

gatherer traditions alongside 21st Century living.  They attend school, but the past is never forgotten,

as the oral history is passed down through the generations.

       Throughout the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where the Berber tribes people live, their mud

brick dwellings cling precariously to the mountainsides.  Like mountain goats, the children race

surefooted across the slopes calling out to one another.  It is a world devoid of toy stores, bicycles

and Barbie dolls, but one where children's imagination, knowledge of nature and the reality of survival

all play a vital role.

       In Alaska, I've watched children playing on a beach at the edge of the arctic in the eerie light of

the midnight sun, their games lasting beyond a normal bedtime - so much to fit in before the long

months of darkness which lie ahead.

         The face of a Inuit Boy smiles                                          Every July in Fairbanks Alaska, the Eskimo

through the hood of his fur trimmed parka                              olympics takes place, a celebration of the

as he stands on the edge of the arctic Ocean,                          games.   An Inuit girl dressed in furs enjoys

Barrow, Alaska                                                                          a refreshing beverage as she watches. 

      Though children are all around us, sometimes we don't see them.  They may be far away in another

land, brought up in a culture different to our own.  But when we look into a child's eyes, you can see

they want something from the world.  In their eyes we search to see HOPE, beauty and a bright future.

But on some occasions the look conveys loss, sadness and pain.  Our hopes for tomorrow lie in all

children, because we connect and are transported back to our own childhood, when anything seemed

possible.