Nature Through a Child's Eyes

Please join Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscyane Nature Center (BNC) to view the exhibit featuring photography by students from Morningside K-8 Academy

About the BNC “Summer by the Sea” Camp Photography Program

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center (BNC) hosted 45 scholarship students from Morningside Academy for a month-long “Summer by the Sea” Camp in Crandon Park, Key Biscayne.

The students made these photographs during the summer camp program. Together with the Center for Visual Communication (CVC) and photography instructor Jahaira Galvez, students were taught the basics of photography so they would gain insight and experience while documenting aspects of their environment and culture. Students were taught about composition, lighting and camera technique while sending them to hunt for pictures with their own creative eyes and unique ways of seeing.

Now in its fourth year, CVC launched the program with a donation of 20 digital cameras to the BNC summer camp to provide students with a fun and expressive link to the science and ecology themes they learn about from camp naturalists.

Their remarkable photographs show that with a minimum of focused instruction and with creative and encouraging direction, it is easy to bring visual literacy to young minds that all shine brightly given the opportunity. Central to the BNC program is the idea that by reinforcing the community's connection to the environment, the next generation will continue to conserve the world around them. It is one thing to read a book or hear about these natural areas, but our camp programs have shown that to be in nature, experience and feel it first hand, and to tell stories visually is a richer and more meaningful experience.