In 2004, Salt Lake City-based Kids with Cameras, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of marginalized children around the world through the art of photography, sent photojournalist Jason Eskenazi to Jerasulem to investigate how religion and politics are shaping the lives and opinions of the war-torn city’s youngest occupants.    

With a suitcase-full of point-and-click cameras and more than 250 rolls of film, Eskenazi enlisted the help of two dozen Jewish and Muslim children, ages 8 to 12, who were given basic instruction in photography, and asked to capture on film the reality of daily life at the center of the Jewish-Muslim conflict. The resulting images are featured in a new exhibition, “Kids with Cameras: Beyond the Walls – Jerusalem,” which is on display at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco’s (JCCSF) Katz Snyder Gallery through April 30.
   

Not surprisingly, the collection of 30 images demonstrates the clear differences between the lives of Jewish and Muslim young people growing up in the holy city. But Lenore Naxon, director of JCCSF’s Eugene and Elinor Friend Center for the Arts, believes the exhibition, which is part of JCCSF’s yearlong “Israel at 60” celebration, also demonstrates some striking similarities between the two groups of children.
   

“They have childhood in common,” Naxon explains. “They have a youthful curiosity in common, and a sense of humor.”
Eskenazi told the New York Times that his young protégés’ curiosity was piqued pretty early on in the process. For his own safety, and the safety of the children, the two groups met separately for the duration of the project. But, along the way, Eskenazi shared each group’s photos with the other.   

He said that at first, the groups displayed a clear dislike for one another. But soon, their bad feelings for each other, which had been largely shaped by the adults in their lives, gave way to an inherent desire to know what life is like on the other side of the proverbial fence.
   

“After a few minutes, they’d be looking to see how the others lived,” Eskenazi said.
   

At the end of the summer-long project, Eskenazi arranged for the star pupil from each group to meet. As expected, the meeting was a tense one. But Eskenazi says the two boys were able to put aside their differences temporarily to appreciate each other’s work.   

“I think they both spoke in English – ‘good photo,’” Eskenazi told the New York Times.
   

“Kids are kids,” adds Naxon.
   

Though peace for the residents of Jerusalem is likely years away, Naxon believes the Kids with Cameras project will help provide future generations of Jews and Muslims involved in the struggle with a better understanding and respect for each other.
   

“These small baby steps are critical,” she says. “It’s about changing the world one person at a time. You know how they say, ‘From the mouths of babes?’ Well, in this case, it’s from the eyes of babes.”