DREAM
My path in life started with a dream. On my way to primary school, I always passed the photo shop in town. By the age of 10, I could advise people which camera to buy. In my early twenties, I was still searching for my purpose in life, until I remembered the photo shop. I decided to buy my first professional camera… and now here I am. More than a decade ago, I had an assignment to photograph Ethiopian children in their school. I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Save the Children Netherlands took notice of this photo series. We were curious to see if we could take this idea to the next level. The first time, we travelled to India in 2011. We visited children in the slums where Save the Children carried out projects. We asked the question none of these children had never been asked before: What do you dream of? At first some answers seemed improbable, or mere childish fantasies. A closer look revealed the opposite to be true: almost every dream of every child turned out to be a solution to things that needed improving in their lives. With that striking realization, we knew we were onto something. For the past eight years, I have been working on this project. Each time I went on an assignment for Save the Children, I also collected dreams. In this project, the doorbell is a much more important button than the shutter release on my camera. When someone opens, the contact is initiated. I make contact. And take pictures. None of the photos were pre-produced. Everything depended on the moment. I did not know what a child would say, nor how we would then depict the dream. With only the simplest materials at hand, we had to make it work. This project has therefore been the biggest challenge in my career as a photographer. Every time: one child, one dream, one photo. My goal is to make people more sensitive to the world around them. I hope the stories of the open-hearted children will do just that.
If you want to order my book DREAM please go to www.chrisdebode.com/dreambook
Kalyani, India, new delhi
Kalyani was one of the very first children I photographed for the 'I Have a Dream' series. When I first met her in 2011, she was 13 years old. She had painted a plane onto a wall near her house. She lives with her parents and two brothers in one of the slums in Delhi. She likes going to school and has big dreams. She believes that she will be married but she won't stay in the slum like her mother, caring for the children. "In the evening, when I see a plane flying overhead, I dream of being on board. I want to see the world, but I especially want to get out of the slum. As a flight attendant I will travel and literally fly away from my current life."
Early 2015, I met up with Kalyani again. She's 17 years old now and her dreams have changed. She now wants to become a lawyer or police officer to fight injustice.
Aniket, India, new delhi
Aniket was 10 years old when I first met him in 2011. He lives with his parents and sister in a slum in New Delhi. He wants to become an architect. Behind the house where he lives a large multi-story building is being built. Aniket would like to live there one day.
It is the year 2015. The building behind Aniket is now finished and he still wants to become an architect.
