By Hannah Schenker
Childhood in rural New Zealand is pretty unique, as many of you readers will know. Climbing trees, jumping in mud puddles, raising chickens, jumping fences, favourite swimming holes…some things simply cannot be found in the suburbs. Photographer Niki Boon has turned the lens to her own children, growing up in the country without iPads or Playstations. A simpler way of living, something many of us long for.
“I am a previously trained physiotherapist turned photographer and mother of four wild and free children living in Marlborough, New Zealand,” Boon says.
“My current project was born form the desire to document my family’s days as we pursue an alternative education and lifestyle with our children in our rural environment.
“We live a simple life in rural New Zealand, my children are alternatively educated and live without TV or modern electronic devices.
“I document their days, together, in an environment full of nature and uninhibited play. I photograph as a 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.
“I believe my children are right where they belong, covered in mud, running and living through nature.
“They belong here wild and free and earth connected in a way where the landscape begins and their little souls end.”
We love these photos and are pleased to be able to share a few with you here. For the full gallery visit Niki Boon’s website.
