If given a camera and a set of instructions, how might elementary kids in Phoenix photograph their family, their school, and their friends?

That question was posed by the photographers of Through Each Others Eyes™, but they took it a step further. What if cameras were given to kids in Phoenix and also to kids in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico? 

With financial help from Wells Fargo Bank and Tempe Camera, an exhibit of photographs from sixth grade students at Lowell Elementary School in Phoenix and sixth grade students at IMARC Elementary School in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico will be on display at the Wells Fargo Bank at Central and Washington, from April 24 through May 19. 

In the autumn of 2005, Through Each Others Eyes™ photographers Paul O’Neill and Scott Baxter took disposable cameras provided by Tempe Camera, to Dustin Hesser’s sixth grade art class at Lowell Elementary School. O’Neill and Baxter talked with the students and suggested examples of subjects for the exhibit, including pictures of their homes, families, and friends at school.

Tempe Camera also provided 30 disposible cameras to Hermosillo photographers Jesús Soto and Edith Reyes Freaner, who asked a sixth grade class at IMARC to photograph the same subjects. The exhibit, with at least one picture from each student who participated, not only provides an insight into the lives of these students, but also shows the differences of the schools and neighborhoods in Phoenix and Hermosillo.

Through Each Others Eyes™ President, Errol Zimmerman noted, “We’ve never done anything like this before. In our 18-year history we have sponsored more than 25 exchanges among professional photographers in seven different countries, but this is our first project where we have asked students to photograph their own lives. We are quite excited with the images the kids have produced.”

The exhibit was shown April 24 through May 19, 2006. A private reception was held May 2 at Wells Fargo Bank for the students at Lowell Elementary and their families. The exhibit then traveled to Hermosillo for a public exhibition in June, 2006.