EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
STREET CHILD AMBASSADOR
MOVED BY TEENS’ PICS OF WORLD’S TOUGHEST PLACES
With the eye of a photographer and the emotion of a mother, Penny Lancaster attended the unveiling of a collection of remarkable images captured by 15-year-olds in some the world’s toughest places.
“The photos that the children chose to take are quite positive amid all the devastation – they are not sad images, they are images of hope, aspirations and dreams,” the model, photographer, TV personality and special constable tells hello! of the exhibition Fifteen: Through the Lens of the Next Generation, held to mark the 15th anniversary of Street Child.
The charity’s ambassador, Penny arrived at London’s Gallery@oxo last week with her husband Sir Rod Stewart – with whom she has sons Alastair, 17, and 12-year-old Aiden – and was captivated by the photos.
“Having children ourselves and realising how fortunate we are can make you feel a world apart from what is happening in other countries, but these photographs somehow reconnect you. We are all human, we all have the same basic needs, and that they can find some signs of hope and joy in the little things makes you want to reach out and do what we can to help.”
FIGHTING FOR EDUCATION
The 15-year-olds captured the images with the help of local photographers at workshops set up by Street Child and include one by a Nigerian boy Tunde of a group of children “being taught by what looks like another child”, says Penny. It’s an image that particularly resonated with her “because our boys are both at school and my eldest is going through exams and we are feeling how critical education is for their future”.
She adds: “Your heart goes out to these children who are displaced and without the normal life of going to school to learn and grow. The children were all huddled in a corner, not even on chairs, trying to take in some information, to give themselves some better hope in life.”
