Shine Camera Club Celebrates 5 Years of Empowering Young People in Mitcham Through Photography with International Partnership with Chennai Photo Biennale
This year marks the 5th anniversary of Shine Camera Club, the much-loved creative programme helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds discover confidence, creativity and self-expression through photography. To celebrate this milestone year, Shine Camera is proud to announce an exciting new international collaboration with the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation in India.
Part of Shine Merton Saturday School, Shine Camera Club teaches children the basics of photography using analogue film cameras, encouraging them to slow down, observe and capture the world through their own eyes. Across five weeks, participants explore portraiture, still life and street photography while learning about cameras, lighting and the work of iconic photographers.
Founded and led by Cindy Sasha, Shine Camera Club was developed in partnership with Kristina Burton, whose commitment to arts education for young people helped bring the programme to life.
Over the last five years, Shine Camera Club has created a safe and inspiring space where children can build confidence, develop new skills and tell their own stories visually. Each year, the children’s strongest images are professionally developed and presented in a public exhibition.
This year’s landmark celebration introduces a cross-cultural exchange with the CPB Prism programme, the grassroots educational wing of Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation, which promotes lens-based arts education for underserved communities. Through online workshops and creative dialogue, children in Mitcham and Chennai have connected through photography and storytelling, sharing their communities, surroundings and perspectives.
Uday Gnanadason from Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation said:
We partnered with Shine Merton this year to build a meaningful exchange between the children we work with in India and those they support in the UK. The intention was to bridge differences in learning experiences through a shared creative process, using photography and storytelling as common ground. Cindy Sasha has been instrumental in making this happen and we are very grateful for this opportunity, which we are treating as a pilot project for future collaborations.
Students involved in the Chennai programme reflected on photography’s impact:
Photography has changed the way I see my surroundings. I now notice the small details.
– Esther, Grade 8
I dream of becoming a professional photographer one day.
– Pugazhini, Grade 5
Speaking on the importance of this year’s collaboration, Cindy Sasha said:
I fell in love with photography growing up, but I did not have the access or opportunity to learn it in the way many others do. That is why I believe photography education should be accessible, especially in working-class communities where creative opportunities are too often overlooked. You never know where you may discover the next Tish Murtha or Don McCullin, young people with the talent to document their world and enlighten the rest of us.
The 2026 Shine Camera Club Exhibition will open to the public at Elys Wimbledon from 27th June for two weeks during the Wimbledon Championships. The exhibition will showcase photography created by children in Mitcham and Chennai, celebrating youth creativity while reflecting the rich diversity of Merton and supporting the borough’s South Asian community.
This year’s exhibition will be curated by Aidan Sullivan, founder and CEO of Verbatim Photo. He began his career as a staff photographer before moving into freelance photojournalism, covering international stories across regions including Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and India. He later became Picture Editor at The Sunday Times. Aidan is also the founder of the Ian Parry Scholarship, a respected charity supporting emerging photojournalists.
Aidan Sullivan said:
There is something humbling about seeing the world through a child’s eyes, unfiltered, curious and entirely honest. Curating this exhibition is a privilege and a genuine joy. These young photographers have produced work that surprises, moves and challenges in equal measure. After a lifetime in photography, it is rare to encounter images that feel truly fresh.
Shine Merton Saturday School supports 50 of the most disadvantaged children aged 9–10 each year, including pupils receiving Pupil Premium, young carers, refugees and children with learning, social or emotional challenges. Through programmes like Shine Camera Club, students receive vital opportunities to build confidence, wellbeing and creative ambition.
As Shine Camera Club enters its fifth year, this special partnership signals an exciting new chapter, using photography not only as a creative tool, but as a bridge between cultures and communities.
SHINE EXHIBITION
27th June – 12th July 2026
Elys Wimbledon 2nd Floor
16 St Georges Road
Wimbledon, SW19 4DP
