Niki Boon began taking photos as a hobby while she was working as a physiotherapist in Scotland. However, the New Zealand native found her interest in the art waning while she travelled, and it wasn't until she had returned home and started raising a family that her passion was rekindled. "Childhood in the Raw," an ongoing photo series of her four children's technology-free life on her 10-acre property in New Zealand, is the perennial fruit of this passion. Boon makes a gift of the photos to each child on his or her birthday.
“There is a bit of work involved when living on land for sure," Boon told Bored Panda when we asked her if she experienced any hardships living in the countryside. "..and we have animals to tend to. But the work is, mostly, what we enjoy…and it is great for the kids to gain the sense of what it is to have to work to enjoy what we have, to learn where our food comes from first hand, about new life and death, both very interesting and not always easy life lessons to learn.”
Update: This photographer draws inspiration from a famous children photographer Alain Laboile, you can check out a post about his work here.
"My children are unschooled and live without TV or modern electronic devices"
This is a "lifestyle that may seem unconventional to some"
"But I am here to celebrate the magical place I choose to live with my family"
"I document their days, together, in an environment full of nature and uninhibited play"
"I photograph as 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"
"Although deeply personal I believe that others will also connect to some aspect of their own childhood…"
"I believe my children are right where they belong covered in mud"
"running and living through nature"
"They belong here wild and free"
"where the landscape begins and their little souls end"
Thank you, Niki Boon, for taking the time to answer Bored Panda's questions!