Camera creates opportunity - National Therapeutic Recreation Society

Parks & Recreation, Sept, 2002

The ability to capture the environment in the unique way that photography does separates it from all other forms of expression. To photograph is to grasp reality, to claim the picture as proof of existence. Photography is also about self-awareness. With camera in hand, the photographer takes shapes, forms, people, places and activities, and then gives a glimpse of her view of the world.

"Taking Notice: Through the Lens" is an artist-in-residence program that cultivates artistic expression and self-awareness in youth through the art of photography. VSA arts was awarded a generous grant from the GE Fund to develop this education program using photography. VSA arts is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education opportunities in the arts for children and adults with disabilities. With its affiliates from Florida, Kentucky, and Rhode Island collaborating with local education institutions and photographers, the program was tailored to teach photography skills for people with various abilities, resources and backgrounds.

VSA arts of Rhode Island collaborated with Potter-Burns Elementary School to create an innovative social studies curriculum using photography for third and fourth graders. VSA arts of Florida worked with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art to create an education model wherein 15 high school students taught photography to 15 elementary school student with disabilities. VSA arts of Kentucky teamed with the Kentucky State University and the Wilkinson Street School, a facility run by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Education, to teach digital photography to students ages 11 to 18.

A young mentor involved with the program in Florida captured the programs eloquently when he wrote, "Photography has shown these students what they can do, not what they can't ... Whenever I see an individual with a disability, I now ask myself `Why not?' instead of `Why?'"

For information on how to develop similar programs in your agency, contact Stephanie Moore at stephanieum@vsarts.org or call 800-933-8721.

NTRS sessions at the NRPA Congress in Tampa will include "ADA Update: Final Rule on Accessibility Guidelines for Recreation Facilities."