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Madurai SEED Centre. Located in the slum of Karumbali, Madurai, the SEED program provides a study centre where children can go after school and on weekends. Apart from the simple advantages of electric lights, not available in every home, it provides a space for volunteers (many of whom also come from disadvantaged backgrounds) to teach. Based off an idea from Zana Briski and the documentary, "Born into Brothels" -- teaching children photography and encouraging them to take photos in the hopes of seeing the world through their eyes -- the following are a collection (10/10) of photos taken both of, and by, SEED centre students. India, Madurai. August/2005. Curious. 1/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Late afternoon light on children playing in the slum of Karumbali. 2/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. On route to the center through the slums of Karumbali. 3/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Karumbali SEED centre neighbourhood. 4/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Full of smiles and laughter. 5/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Elderly women from the community playing games and enjoying the afternoon. 6/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Twilight in Karumbali. 7/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Late afternoon light falls on the SEED centre neighbourhood. 8/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. Friendship bracelets exchanged before parting ways. 9/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. The children love to dance; any opportunity, any place, any time. 10/10.

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SEED Student Photographs. After a lesson on composition and framing, the children were introduced to the equipment: 10 secondhand cameras brought over from Japan, and 30+ rolls of Kodak Gold print film. A primer on loading film, and selecting settings followed, then the doors thrown wide open; 2 students, 1 camera, 48 shots a-piece. Unfortunately school and family responsibilities left many students with only evenings to shoot, but despite this, the assignment to take photographs of their community and whatever interested them turned out surprisingly well. The following are a select 10, from roughly 700 shots. 1/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. In the words of the student: "This is hair cutting shop. We cut our hair from here. We give 10 Rs for one hair cutting." 2/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. Friends, siblings, laughter. 3/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. An older brother working a printing press in the neighbourhood. 4/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. In the words of the student: "This are our Indian Gods. Name Vinayaka, Siva, Muruga. these pictures are disply when celebrate our temple festival." 5/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. A local temple in the Karumbali neighbourhood. 6/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. On the streets at night... 7/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. One of the older students in the centre library, holding a copy of "The Merchant of Venice". Although not large, the SEED library houses a variety of books the students can read on their own, or with the assistance of tutors or elder students. Internet access was in the works at the time of the photograph, but accessibility and connections remained a constant problem. 8/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. 9/10.

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India, Madurai. August/2005. SEED Student Photograph. In the words of the student: "This is our old seed centre. Many student love this centre till now. We enjoyed very much in this centre. We like every place in my seed centre then we never forget those days. It is very wonderful and beautiful memories to our students." 10/10.