I Wanna Take Me a Picture

Written for parents and teachers, I Wanna Take Me a Picture is an accessible and practical guide to getting children involved in photography. Through a series of lessons-from self-portraiture to representing their dreams-it teaches everything a beginner needs to know: how to compose a picture, set up a darkroom, and develop film.Ewald's project is wonderful because it lets kids speak for themselves; instead of being passive subjects for the lens, they eagerly harness it to the engine of their imaginations. --Andy Grundberg, The New York Times

"What's striking about Ewald's work is not just the effect she has on her students but the results they achieve together." --Francine Prose, O: The Oprah Magazine

"Young people know joy, sorrow, and loss. By looking at their photographs and talking about making them, they begin to realize that their lives have importance. This book is needed!" --Deborah Willis, author of Reflections in Black

"A treasure of photos taken by the author and her pupils, plus stirring testimonies from children around the globe who faced tragedy through the lens of a camera." --City LimitsWendy Ewald is artist-in-residence at the John Hope Franklin Center, a research associate at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and a senior fellow at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School University. She lives with her husband and son in the Hudson Valley, New York.

Alexandra Lightfoot received her Ed.D. from Harvard University in 1998.