In Feb. 2001 through a partnership with Stills Gallery, An Lanntair invited American Photographer, Wendy Ewald to meet with teachers on Lewis. Wendy discussed her collaborative work with children from countries as varied as Mexico, and The Netherlands, together with educational materials which she had developed for schools in the USA.
A year later, three teachers brought groups of pupils to the exhibition ‘Portraits and Dreams’ at An Lanntair - photographs and texts made by children in a rural community in Kentucky in the 1970’s. Wendy had taught the children how to use cameras and asked them to photograph important and meaningful events and activities in their lives. They took photographs expressing their fantasies and dreams. Some were enjoyable occasions others showed hardships and sadness. A teacher commented:
"They were interested in the work and the age of the photographers. Some of the subject matter caught their attention e.g. the pig’s head. Several remarked positively about the titles. The main benefits were seeing another culture and seeing the very personal responses by the photographers to family, life, hopes etc."
The teachers followed-up the exhibition visit with work in schools based on the photographic projects outlined by Wendy Ewald in the publication ‘ 5 artists projects in schools’. At Cross Primary pupils imagined themselves in dreamlike situations and used a Polaroid camera and paintings onto instant snapshots to capture their ideas. At the Nicolson Institute secondary school pupils used digital imaging to create a visual Gaelic Alphabet, carefully choosing words which they found interesting and considering how these could be expressed through photography. 1st and 2nd year pupils at Back School used disposable black and white 35mm cameras to make self-portraits in and around their homes. A teacher commented:
"The children loved doing the photography project. The end results were varied and very imaginative. The project was very pupil orientated. They were able to explore art in a different way from the Norm."
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