THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994 TAG: 9406030694
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940603 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH
That's what sponsors of a national photography contest did when they passed out disposable Instamatic cameras to 250,000 second-graders across the country last March. Students were told to snap away on their free cameras with two themes in mind - anything beautiful and anything they felt needed improvement.
{REST} Jennifer Kinney, 8, of Virginia Beach said that her family, best friend, love and the environment were among the beautiful things she wanted to capture on film. She did. And out of 7,500 finalists she took first place with her photo of goldfish swimming in a pond through rippling water and dapples of sunlight.
On Thursday, the Pembroke Elementary pupil also got to be on the other side of the camera as a guest on the national news program ``Good Morning America.''
In addition to her few minutes of fame and all-expenses-paid trip to New York, Jennifer won a new camera and $500 worth of equipment.
The amateur photographer explained Thursday afternoon how her mother had escorted her around Virginia Beach for other photos. ``She took this very seriously,'' said her mother, Cheryl Kinney. ``One thing that really bothered her was a creek that was dried up. There were some ducks in it trying to live.''
Photography judge and program spokeswoman Linda Solomon said that the ``My Beautiful World'' contest, sponsored by Eastman Kodak and Kmart, was aimed at making children more aware of the environment and helping them see things in two different ways.
Another contest winner photographed a homeless man lying face down in front of a brick wall, where plastic bottles and cans were strewn on the ground nearby.
One little girl photographed her uncle's tombstone and wrote in the caption that cancer needed a cure.
Solomon, a photographer herself, said the project also taught children a new means of expression. ``It was interesting to see the perspective of children on what they feel is beautiful and what needs improving in the world,'' she said, calling many of the entries ``poignant.''
Jennifer's goldfish photo, taken during a trip to a nearby garden center, was childlike in subject but sophisticated in perspective, Solomon said.
To capture the contest-winning photo, Jennifer's mom and older sister picked her up and held her over a fountain. ``We went to take pictures of flowers,'' said Jennifer's mother. ``And we saw her trying to lean over this pond and she was just leaning further and further like this.''
To get some other interesting angles, Jennifer stood on a car to catch a bird atop a church steeple. But she didn't have to go far for some other photos, like one of her two sisters kissing their daddy.
But the photo that really surprised her was one she managed to get in New York after her segment on the morning show - a shot with rapper Marky Mark, who was also on the show to plug an upcoming movie he's in. by CNB