The Rainbow Room, Merricats Castle School

The thought process

The project started out as an idea for a school fundraiser. All the parents were asked to come up with things that could be auctioned off at their annual fundraiser.

This year was the first time PJ, my son, was away from home in a place I didn't have access to. I thought of a way that I could continue to watch him grow and at the same time share this unique experience with my husband and the parents of PJ's classmates while raising money for the school.

I photographed the kids candidly throughout the year and then put together a "classroom" book.

When I put PJ into the Rainbow Room (Merricat's preK classroom), I had no idea what a rich experience it was going to be for him. The book I produced tackled this by conveying not only the range of the activites they enjoyed but, more importantly, what it felt like. Any parent wondering if they had made the right choice about the school would be left in no doubt after looking through the book.

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This idea is something I thought more schools could use. Every school has open days and walk throughs, but these brief insights can't possibly convey the breadth of what they offer or the experience of it.

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When, my son moved up to Kindergarten I offered to do the same thing again. This time, offering the parents the chance to buy photographs individually as well as making the whole book available. This time I photographed the entire school, all 11 years, approximately 100 kids. The book was going to be about the whole experience not just that of one classroom.

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artwork

My goal is always the same–to capture the personality and uniqueness of each child.

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All the proceeds went to the school.

Both schools used blow ups of the photographs to decorate corridors and rooms. Pictures were chosen that conveyed the spirit of the kids and the school.

Cover for the Cathedral School book. Both the cover and the photos are different from Merricats because the school and the kids are different. By focussing on capturing personality there is never any danger of confusing identities. It's there. I can't help but capture it.

Legacy

For the School: A powerful promotional tool and a rich resource of images for use on websites and school literature, and the potential for stronger relations with alumni.

For the kids: A chance to leap back in time to your childhood. An insight into what it was like to be 4 years old in the Rainbow Room, seven years old at Cathedral... To see yourself in action, who you played with and what it felt like.

For the teachers: A record of their work and the imagination and energy they put into it.

For me: a precious record of my son's first years of school.

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