From Jamie Gumbrecht’s article for CNN Photos:
Rachel Papo was still reeling from the shock of becoming a mother when her family moved from Brooklyn to the smaller, more rural town of Woodstock, New York, in 2010.
In a cafe they frequented, they met a waitress and her 5-year-old daughter, True. The child was vibrant, “extremely special,” Papo remembers.
“She told me she’s homeschooled,” Papo said, meaning that True didn’t attend a traditional school, but instead, learned at home. “I literally didn’t know it existed. When I heard about it, I thought it was really strange, a really odd thing.
“How can these kids be normal if they’re not part of the mainstream?”
Papo, a photographer, grew up in Israel and attended schools there. She was familiar with other educational models like Montessori and Waldorf. But the idea that children’s schools could be their homes, their parents the teachers, and the world their textbooks, intrigued her. Papo decided to shoot portraits of True and perhaps other homeschooled children living in the area.
Browse the series “Homeschooled” at ClampArt
Browse all of Rachel Papo’s work at ClampArt