New Zealand-born artist Niki Boon started her photography project as a way to document her children's alternative childhood and education growing up in the rural environment of Marlborough, New Zealand without television or social media.
The mother of four believes it's "a lifestyle that may seem unconventional to some, but I am here to celebrate the magical place I choose to live with my family."
Niki captures the freedom of childhood as well as well as life without social contructs that affect the way we grow up and can often childhood cut short. According to Boon, "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 and earth connected in a way where the landscape begins and their little souls end.
"I wanted to also explore more about what childhood is, and what it is to grow up, and for this reason I choose to show images which may depict the loneliness and solitude of childhood, the pain and hurt that is also experienced, I didn’t want to shy away from the less joyful aspects of the journey."
To learn more about Niki Boon, visit her website here.
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Courtney Bissonette is a New York based writer and improv comedienne. She writes primarily about movies, pop cultures and feminist heroes. She gets along best with old people. She has seen more old movies than your grandma, probably. Salt from Salt n Pepa once took her Trick'r Treating. You can follow her on instagram at @gddamnitcourtney or twitter @courttette
