This summer Meetoo is thrilled to partner with tiny & little and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) to bring you Roll Around the Block for Melbourne Now. The best bit – we invite your children to participate and hopefully they will have their photograph featured at the NGV as part of the Melbourne Now Children’s Festival! On Friday 24 January 2014 at 10.30am Meetoo and tiny & little will also host a workshop at the NGV where we will interpret photos as art with children.
ABOUT ROLL AROUND THE BLOCK
Children are invited to embrace the photographer within in Roll Around the Block. Based on the simple premise of kids ’shooting a roll of film’, children are encouraged to take 24 photos (like an old school roll of film) during an outing which capture their view of the cityscape. Through the limitation on the number of photographs, children are inspired to slowly observe and record their environment, while learning basic photography skills and counting.
Roll Around the Block for Melbourne Now brings together tiny & little and Meetoo in a photographic project for the National Gallery of Victoria to capture the city and its people from a child’s perspective. We need you to roll around the block with us to make this happen! So what do you need to do?
LET’S ROLL!
As part of the NGV Melbourne Now Children’s Festival, children aged 2-12 years are invited to undertake a roll around the block – a kid, a camera and 24 shots. Simply have your little one take 24 photos of a ‘block’, select your favourite photos and upload them to Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #rollaroundtheblock. See the FAQ below for our guidelines and tips.
Photographs submitted via Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #rollaroundtheblock will be selected by Meetoo and tiny & little for inclusion in a digital display at the NGV and featured on our websites.
DIGITAL TO ART
Come and play with us! tiny & little and Meetoo will be running a hands-on creative morning at the NGV International (in the Community Hall near the entrance) on Friday 24 January 2014. This workshop, Digital to Art, allows children to explore their Roll Around The Block (or someone else’s) digital image and reinterpret it as an art work. There will be plenty of creative materials at hand and you can drop in any time between 10.30am – 12.30pm.
Click here to subscribe to Meetoo’s email so that we can email you a reminder and more details closer to the day.
FAQS
How do I play Roll Around the Block?
Roll Around the Block truly is as simple as a kid, a camera and 24 shots. Provide your little one with access to a photographic device (smart phone, iPod Touch, digital camera, DSLR) and encourage them to take 24 photos – a virtual roll of film on an outing ‘around their block.’
Where can I take photos?
You can do this activity almost anywhere. A block can be as simple as the block you live on (or even around your house) or you can turn this into an adventure in your own city. tiny & little and Meetoo have both published shots from their own rolls around the block and will continue to share photos throughout Melbourne Now. If you need some inspiration on where to take your photos we have published a list of ideas of where you can try Roll Around The Block – and we’d love to hear your ideas of where else you might try Roll Around The Block.
Why is it 24 shots?
24 shots was chosen as it’s the number of frames on a traditional roll of film. The aim of only 24 photos is to encourage children to consider and pause before taking each photograph. This can be harder for smaller children, so you can tailor the exercise to suit the age and temperament of your child – for example, you might like to do a 12 or 36 shot roll.
How do I join the online gallery?
If you would like to become part of our online gallery, and be in the running for selection to have your little one’s photo displayed at the NGV International, please upload your child’s photograph to Facebook and/or Instagram including the hashtags #rollaroundtheblock and #melbournenow. Please also tag @rollaroundtheblock if posting on Instagram or set your photo to public on Facebook so that we are able to see your photo.
How many photos can I submit to the online gallery?
You can submit as many photos as you like, but we recommend you choose a few favourites from each roll around the block rather than posting all 24. You can also submit from as many rolls around the block as you like.
I need photo ideas for encouraging my little photographer – can you help?
Absolutely! Each Monday throughout Melbourne Now, tiny & little will publish a list of photo ideas to help if photographer’s block strikes.
Do you have tips for using a camera or taking photos that I can share with my little one?
Along with the photo ideas, tiny & little will share camera and photography tips each week during Melbourne Now. Please keep in mind though that some of the best shots can come when we ‘break the rules’ and letting your little one play with the settings is important.
Have any questions or are still not sure what to do? Please leave a comment below (or email me directly at info@clients.spicycat.com.au.au) and we can get back to you as soon as possible.
The Meetoo mini reviewers have taken part in many Roll Around The Blocks over the years (although I think originally I called it “give me back my phone now” until I read one of tiny & little’s post about Roll Around The Block a couple of years ago). I have documented three of our more recent sessions and you can read them here:
A kid and a camera – doing our block
Yes – everything uploaded with the #rollaroundtheblock tag by 23 Jan will be considered for selection being displayed at the NGV! You have just over a week to get snapping! Looking forward to seeing your little ones entries 🙂
Hi is there a cut-off date for posting photos on FB page?
Hi – is there a cut-off date for getting photos onto the Facebook page? Or just before 24th?
Hi Alison,
Okay as far as what information do you need to submit – feel free to include any details you wish, eg child’s first name and age – but this is not vital. The only thing we ask you to do (when uploading onto Facebook) is to include #rollaroundtheblock (in the bit where it says “write something”) and set the photo to “public”. If you would like us to double check it’s visible at our end feel free to shoot us a message via the Roll Around The Block Facebook page (or you can email me at info@meetoo.com.au). As for how the photographs are chosen – well it’s not really a judging process. We will just be looking for a great cross section of different types of images that really capture a child’s perspective, Melbourne right now or is just a lovely composition! Hope that helps, Kate.
Meetoo/Kate how are the photographs judged for the NGV exhibition and what kind of information do you want us to include when we upload our kids photos onto Facebook?
Thank you Petrina for your question! We’d love you to play along following the Roll Around The Block format – but appreciate that many people already naturally (without realising it) follow a similar pattern already and so it’s natural that you want to share photos from your past. Thank you for being up front. As there is no way we can verify how you play along we welcome all entries in the spirit of fostering a joy in photography – and hope you will enter lots of times over the summer with some summer Melbourne cityscapes. Don’f forget to include #rollaroundtheblock in all your photo’s status or comments area when uploading.
Hi Kate,
My daughter Grace is very excited about submitting photos to Roll Around the Block. On a recent holiday she took a series of photos and would like to submit a couple from her trip as well as some new ones. Is it ok to submit some from earlier this year? Many thanks Petrina