Everything is changing: the internet is taking over newspapers, music is streamed on mobile devices, and social interactions are predominantly online. As children grow older, they have increasing access to tablets or mobile devices that are not only loaded with information but also capable of generating it. It’s now established that audiovisual language is the primary system for transmitting content.
If we look around, we can see images are everywhere. I like to say that images have 3 pillars:
Images are Primary: A baby recognizes the image of its mother before learning to name her.
Images are Thought: We think in images. Our memories, dreams, and hopes are images.
Images are Power: Those controlling images have significantly influenced their communities throughout history. Images are transforming, which we can confirm with the last two pillars and commercial advertising of any kind. Images can become an educational strategy to gain customers and fans.
Perhaps it’s time for us to shift from passive consumers to active agents, critically engaged in creating our own reality. If we fail to analyze images deeply and only perceive their surface, we risk becoming transmitters for the ideas of others, potentially conflicting with our own beliefs.
Therefore, fostering education in visual culture and photographic expression is important. By integrating global, local, or everyday images into the classroom—crafted by students themselves, based on ideas or concepts—we allow these students to construct their own narratives. Through thought and reflection, we can develop a critical perspective.
Educating means not just imparting knowledge but also empowering individuals to express themselves authentically and create from their own experiences, whether they stem from personal concerns or joys or the communities they belong to. Photography is a wonderful tool to facilitate this process, leveraging its capacity as both a document and, more importantly, its accessible and democratic nature to express and create one’s unique perspective. It allows individuals to reveal their own way of seeing the world. As Foncuberta describes, we are consumers but also image makers.
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For nine months, the CEIP San Juan de Ribera team in Valencia, led by its director, Teresa Ripoll, participated in classes led by ANDANA to integrate photography into the classroom. The curriculum designed expressly for this project covered various topics, from photographic techniques to developing photographic projects. It included participatory photography, night photography, street photography, and analog development. Moreover, it emphasized the importance of authentic photographic expression, incorporating biographical content and promoting visual culture throughout the learning process.
The training concluded in May with the follow-up of the photographic projects, which took place with the guidance of each tutor in their respective classrooms.
The true purpose of art isn’t merely to admire the artist’s skill but to transform the observer. We decided to leverage art for change, using photography as both a meeting ground and a platform for exchanging ideas, facilitating learning for all involved, and emphasizing the importance of the process, from creation and the individual gaze.
The boys and girls of CEIP San Juan de Ribera have transitioned from passive consumers to active creators, constructing contemporary participatory narratives that offer unique perspectives on the world from ages 3 to 12.
On June 17, 2019, the exhibition “Discovering the Gaze: The Use of Photography as a Learning Tool” opened its doors.
The resulting narrative projects explored themes such as fears, urban life, self-concept, school experiences, and the joy of sharing. Projects created by each classroom, from the first year of early childhood education to 6th grade of primary school, and their explanation:
Nightlife
Early childhood education groups
Night photography as a game and a tool to reflect and manage fears in the childhood stages.
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Friendship. We Love Each Other
1st grade primary school
Cristina Giménez Peiró
A project that shows the different forms of expression about the meaning of friendship. Images conveying affection, emotional interactions, and heartfelt expressions that illustrate the essence of “loving each other” and build a concept of friendship based on understanding, achieving common goals, and resolving conflicts.
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Give Me Your Photo as a Gift
2nd grade primary school
Mª Isabel March
The students’ first contact with photography using their favorite toy to explore observing and being observed through the lens.
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This is Me
3rd grade primary school
Amparo Ballester, Marita Guallart
Exploring self-definition and self-concept through words and images, utilizing the process of analog development as a metaphorical journey of discovery.
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This is My School
4th grade primary school
Francisco Manuel García López
Participatory work to select a single photograph capturing the most evocative corners of the school that elicit powerful sensations. During the presentation, a vertical line emerged from the ground, inviting you to embark on a visual journey through San Juan de Ribera School, as depicted by the images chosen by the students.
Health Education: Healthy-Unhealthy
5th grade primary school
Mª José Vicente Escrich
A hands-on work process from visual representation, reflection, and respect for opinions on what is healthy and what is not.
Gazes
6th grade primary school
Nuria Ibáñez, Teresa Ripoll, Inmaculada Ortega
Starting with street photography as a starting point, the group ventured to Valencia’s Plaza del Ayuntamiento, capturing a photograph from their unique gaze. The work was done with analog cameras, resulting in a development process that facilitated analysis and synthesis of the diverse gazes, culminating in constructing a unified “whole.”
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A full adventure led by a pioneering and courageous center for which we express our gratitude through this video-summary. Your commitment to building knowledge through creativity and reflection has been truly inspiring. We’re already on the right track.
Learn more
ANDANA: Pioneering Children’s Photography Projects
How to Use Neuroeducation to Teach Photography
