Press Releases

MONTEREY, CALIF. –Photographers, fine art collectors, and globally conscious citizens are invited to attend the annual Kids with Cameras Auction kick off event at Santa Catalina School on Friday, April 8, 2011.  The auction will open with a reception at noon in the school's Library Gallery and bidding will continue through May 6th.  All proceeds from the auction will benefit Kids With Cameras, a non-profit dedicated to exposing children around the world to the transformative art of photography.

Kids With Cameras is currently constructing a school outside Kolkata called Hope House, which will cater specifically to the needs of girls born into the city's notorious red light district. Photography will be part of these students' daily lives.

Since 2006, Santa Catalina School has donated approximately $6,000 to Kids with Cameras.

Before they donate their photographs to the auction, Lerner's students watch the documentary film, Born into Brothels, which documents the day-to-day lives of the children of Calcutta's red-light district. The film was conceived after American photographer Zana Briski moved to Calcutta to document the lives of women living in brothels there. Briski began to teach photography to their curious children, whose lives were transformed by their encounters with the art. Her experiences before and during filming prompted Briski to create Kids With Cameras, the non-profit dedicated to changing children's lives through photography.

"Our Kids With Cameras Auction is an opportunity to experience art in the service of social action," Santa Catalina School photography teacher Claire Lerner says. "Through the creative process, the students are empowered to affect the lives of others."

At least a dozen photos acquired at this annual auction have become part of the permanent collection at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

For more information about the auction please contact Claire Lerner at 831.423.3840 or Claire.Lerner@santacatalina.org.

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