We are absolutely delighted to welcome two new members to our international advisory board: Elina Moraitopoulou and Gayatri Nair.
Both Elina and Gayatri are long-standing collaborators and have been working with the Children’s Photography Archive in different capacities since the word ‘Go!’.
Elina used the photographs from the archive and our exhibition catalogue in her doctoral research with children and young people in England as learning objects to support conversations about memory and educational futures with her young participants.
Since then, a collaboration was forged and Elina continues to use the archive as applicable to her work, currently with educators and school children in Thessaloniki where she is the Scientific Coordinator of local environmental organization Mamagea, cultivating caring communities of humans and non-humans alike through urban agriculture education and a growing network of school vegetable gardens.
“Ever since I came across the CPA back in 2019, I have dreamt of joining this group, of adding my own childhood photograph beside theirs”, Elina told us. “The CPA material has been profoundly helpful in my research for eliciting conversations with children about memory and futures, as they found both recognition and curiosity in the lives and matters of concern of other children from across the world. In a context where children are too often not seen or heard as people with memories, biographies, and interpretive power of their own, the CPA’s infrastructure makes an invaluable contribution in establishing children as photographers, cultural producers, and memory-makers. This feels to me like a deeply important gesture of justice.”
Gayatri stumbled upon the Children’s Photography Archive just after the pandemic and reached out to request permission to use photographs from Hyderabad from the Connectors Study collection in a photography journal for young adults.
A co-founder of the Chennai Photo Biennale (CPB), Gayatri set up and ran CPB Prism, the biennale’s educational arm, where she now serves as an advisor. Based in Chennai, India, CPB Prism works extensively with children and young people, bringing photography and arts education into classrooms, teaching children how to photograph, and encouraging them to express themselves visually.
Since then, the Children’s Photography Archive and Prism/Chennai Photo Biennale have continued to collaborate, most recently presenting the What Makes Me Click! exhibition, which took place in Chennai last year as part of the fourth edition of the Chennai Photo Biennale.
“CPA’s work brings a depth of reflection and care to children’s images that resonates deeply with my approach in Chennai at the CPB Foundation”, Gayatri says. “While we work with children differently, it feels strongly complementary. Our collaboration and many informal chats have shaped and continue to shape how we design programs. I’m very glad to be part of its journey ahead as a member of the Advisory board.”
You can listen to Elina and Gayatri in conversation together with others at the final seminar of the series, Childhood Publics and the Child’s Gaze.
Melissa Nolas, the Director of the Children’s Photography Archive had this to say about the appointments: “2026 is a year of pause, reflection, and change here at the Children’s Photography Archive as we review our trajectory to date and work together to map out a course for the next three year (2027-2030). I couldn’t be happier to have Elina and Gayatri on the advisory board as we plan our next moves!”
We would also like to take the opportunity to also say goodbye to advisory board members Gabriella Giannachi, Hyo Yoon Kang, Annebella Pollen and Johannes Schoening. We thank them for their time and commitment to the CPA in its first (of many, we hope) phases and we wish them all the best with their respective endeavors.