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Photographer Mom Documents Her Kids’ Childhood Without Electronic Devices
Niki Boon began taking photos as a hobby while she was working as a physiotherapist in Scotland. However, the New Zealand native found her interest in the art waning while she travelled, and it wasn’t until she had returned home and started raising a family that her passion was rekindled. “Childhood in the Raw,” an ongoing photo series of her four children’s technology-free life on her 10-acre property in New Zealand, is the perennial fruit of this passion. Boon makes a gift of the photos to each child on his or her birthday.
“There is a bit of work involved when living on land for sure,” Boon told Bored Panda when we asked her if she experienced any hardships living in the countryside. “..and we have animals to tend to. But the work is, mostly, what we enjoy…and it is great for the kids to gain the sense of what it is to have to work to enjoy what we have, to learn where our food comes from first hand, about new life and death, both very interesting and not always easy life lessons to learn.”
Update: This photographer draws inspiration from a famous children photographer Alain Laboile, you can check out a post about his work here.
More info: nikiboonphotos.com | Facebook | Instagram | 500px (h/t: mymodernmet, NatGeo)
“My children are unschooled and live without TV or modern electronic devices”
This is a “lifestyle that may seem unconventional to some”
“But I am here to celebrate the magical place I choose to live with my family”
“I document their days, together, in an environment full of nature and uninhibited play”
“I photograph as physical record of their childhood, life as it is…”
“the real…”
“but also as a reflection of a childhood rooted deep in my own past”
“…a most sincere place of freedom”
“A childhood I now pass on to my own children”
“Although deeply personal I believe that others will also connect to some aspect of their own childhood…”
“I believe my children are right where they belong covered in mud”
“running and living through nature”
“They belong here wild and free”
“where the landscape begins and their little souls end”
Thank you, Niki Boon, for taking the time to answer Bored Panda‘s questions!
What do you think ?
PeterFaalogo 8 years ago
All of these comments are hilariously revealing. All of the comments criticizing this woman's choice to educate her kids outside of the societal norms prove the mis-education perpetuated by the state school system. If you all took the time to look up the definition of the term 'unschooling' you would find that it refers to an unstructured, interest led form of education rather than the rigid, hands-off approach you all subject your children to. How do you think children were educated prior to the industrial age? Appreciate these photos for what they are, a beautiful depiction of a wondrous childhood, or p**s-off with your key-board warrior negativity.
CCHogan 8 years ago
I quite agree. And of course, the main thing she is teaching them is not to be little group of mobile-phone addicted sheep. However these kids grow up, the one thing I guarantee is that they won't be boring! Good luck to them, I say. I wish I had grown up like that - complete with the mud!
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LyoneFein 8 years ago
Those here who denigrate homeschooling speak from ignorance. Most homeschooled kids surpass their peers on college entrance exams, and easily win admittance (including scholarships for academic excellence) to the best schools in the country. All of the statistics bear this out. Not only this, but as a professor myself, I can honestly say that such kids generally make better students: with longer attention spans, a greater sense of responsibility when it comes to completing assignments, and they are far more active in classroom discussions than most of their peers. Not only that, they also bring a more interesting perspective into those discussions. These are only a few of the reasons why homeschooled children succeed in higher education and beyond.
Vicky Forba 8 years ago
RickFitz homeschoooling and unschooling are two different things. Some intertwine them. They are different
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HazelWaring 8 years ago
Unschooled is ok if they can/will be happy to make a living off the land and continue living there and I'm sure, as all mothers do, she knows what is best for her children - they certainly seem happy bar the odd scraped knee! But I do wonder, what if one of them wants to leave and get into a certain profession? They'll have no academic record, which whilst isn't everything to a person, is everything to an employer!
KristenGalardi 8 years ago
You don't need an academic record to get into college or any testing scores. However, the same sort of testing is available to any home schooling family if they so choose to use it later on. So either way her kids will be successful whoever and whatever they choose to do.
Load More Replies...
PeterFaalogo 8 years ago
All of these comments are hilariously revealing. All of the comments criticizing this woman's choice to educate her kids outside of the societal norms prove the mis-education perpetuated by the state school system. If you all took the time to look up the definition of the term 'unschooling' you would find that it refers to an unstructured, interest led form of education rather than the rigid, hands-off approach you all subject your children to. How do you think children were educated prior to the industrial age? Appreciate these photos for what they are, a beautiful depiction of a wondrous childhood, or p**s-off with your key-board warrior negativity.
CCHogan 8 years ago
I quite agree. And of course, the main thing she is teaching them is not to be little group of mobile-phone addicted sheep. However these kids grow up, the one thing I guarantee is that they won't be boring! Good luck to them, I say. I wish I had grown up like that - complete with the mud!
Load More Replies... LyoneFein 8 years ago
Those here who denigrate homeschooling speak from ignorance. Most homeschooled kids surpass their peers on college entrance exams, and easily win admittance (including scholarships for academic excellence) to the best schools in the country. All of the statistics bear this out. Not only this, but as a professor myself, I can honestly say that such kids generally make better students: with longer attention spans, a greater sense of responsibility when it comes to completing assignments, and they are far more active in classroom discussions than most of their peers. Not only that, they also bring a more interesting perspective into those discussions. These are only a few of the reasons why homeschooled children succeed in higher education and beyond.
Vicky Forba 8 years ago
RickFitz homeschoooling and unschooling are two different things. Some intertwine them. They are different
Load More Replies... HazelWaring 8 years ago
Unschooled is ok if they can/will be happy to make a living off the land and continue living there and I'm sure, as all mothers do, she knows what is best for her children - they certainly seem happy bar the odd scraped knee! But I do wonder, what if one of them wants to leave and get into a certain profession? They'll have no academic record, which whilst isn't everything to a person, is everything to an employer!
KristenGalardi 8 years ago
You don't need an academic record to get into college or any testing scores. However, the same sort of testing is available to any home schooling family if they so choose to use it later on. So either way her kids will be successful whoever and whatever they choose to do.
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