CRY, RICOH India launch 'View Finder Programme'

The programme seeks to identify children in difficult circumstances with a flair for photography.

Young photography volunteers will facilitate workshops for the children to help the children understand and use the medium effectively to tell stories.

Soha Moitra, Director, CRY-Child Rights and You, said, "Children’s voices, especially of those in difficult circumstances are often unheard. Opportunities for nurturing  or pursuing certain interests and hobbies too are scarce. The programme in partnership with Ricoh India will serve the dual purpose of giving children a medium to tell the stories that they want to through the photographs that they click and also help them acquire photography skills from expert volunteers."

Speaking on the occasion, Manoj Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, Ricoh India said, "We, as humans, are gifted with the ‘power to imagine’. Change is driven by imaginative thinking. Every day, all over the world, Ricoh helps people harness the power of collective imagination to enjoy a more productive, fulfilling, and sustainable quality of life. In this regard, we are pleased to initiate this programme in association with CRY through which we intend to nurture talent on photography for the next generation to pursue its passion, to gain a skill which can provide it a pedestal to enable it to put forth a 'positive' view to life for all to see and get inspired by."

Nidhi Gupta, a young professional and a photography volunteer with CRY in Delhi is excited at the prospect of facilitating this process with children as part of the ‘View Finder Programme’.

She shared that children have interesting worldviews which gets reflected in the photos that they click.

Anik Adhikari, CRY volunteer and a young press photographer who resides in Kolkata is hopeful that the exposure that the programme will offer to the children may prove to be a turning point in their lives and may become their source of livelihood in future.

The poster has been  designed by CRY Kolkata volunteer Parama Ghosh Roy.