SOMETIMES THINGS JUST DON'T WORK OUT THE WAY YOU ANTICIPATED...

Sadly, about a month ago the Children’s Community Support Collaborative (CCSC), which is the group that YPI KIDS was working with at The Home for Little Wanderers, withdrew from the 2010 YPI KIDS Project Tomorrow. A variety of unanticipated issues surfaced during the project. As an example, by the end of the week of July 7th, which was the film due date, only three Participants had turned in the roll of film and none had completed the Subject Selection Questionnaire, both of which integral parts of the program.

Obviously, there were many other factors and events that contributed to this situation. As the Director of the CCSC program said to me during one of our discussions before they reached their final decision, “Believe me when I tell you that they have many, many other issues that occupy their thoughts / attention”. And that pretty much says it all. They were a great group of kids and I am indeed saddened by the fact that we were unable to pull it off.

In hindsight I would say that the single biggest underlying problem was that the Participants did not have the type of “hands-on” support and encouragement from their parents/guardians that others had in prior YPI KIDS programs. I had limited access to the children and there were only two counselors, no parents, involved and they had a significant number of other responsibilities at CCSC.

While the turn of events was unfortunate, it was a valuable lesson learned and one that will certainly help in the selection process for a candidate for our 2011 YPI KIDS program. The good news is that we received a tremendous amount of financial support in our fund raising efforts. I was very fortunate to have a family step up as a “Sponsor” for about half the funds needed for the project. In addition we received support from a broad range of people who had just heard about the program recently.

As we get into the fall, I will once again start the search for an institution to work with in 2011. If any of you have any suggestions, I would welcome them. For the present time I am going to continue to focus on the Boston area.

Once again I want to thank my Board, Alison Chase a very talented lady who so kindly volunteered her time to come and teach the class in June with me and all those who contributed financially to this year's project. To the six special children who signed up for the project, we gave it our best shot and wish you all the best of luck with your treatment program at CCSC.

MARCH is FUND RAISING TIME for YPI KIDS

Funds are needed for the 2010 Project with The Home for Little Wanderers to cover the costs of cameras and film, posters, the printing, framing and shipping of all images and the Preview Party to be held at the Copley Mall in October. Simply go to the DONATE tab on the website. And on behalf of the children we will be working with...THANK YOU!

Exclusive: YPI KIDS - More than just Photography

Last October I was a presenter at Petcha Kutcha Boston 13. One of the people attending was Sunniya Saleem and she has just blogged YPI KIDS on her Amvona site.

I am a photographer and a photography writer and through this trait I meet several interesting people and have been fortunate to work on several inspiring projects. But I have never come across anything as special as YPI KIDS.

It is an amazing article... check it out.

2010 YPI KIDS Project:Tomorrow

I am please to announce that the YPI KIDS partner for the 2010 Project: Tomorrow is The Home for Little Wanderers which is one of the oldest and most recognized non-profit child and family service agencies in the nation. Originally founded as an orphanage in 1799, The Home today plays a leadership role in delivering services to thousands of children and families each year through a system of therapeutic residential, community-based and prevention programs, direct care services, and advocacy.

The specific group within The Home that YPI KIDS will be working with is the Children's Community Support Collaborative (CCSC). The program provides a flexible network of community-based services for children, adolescents and their families, facing a range of emotional and behavioral challenges, in order to promote emotional wellness, self-reliance and sustained health over time.

CCSC works with a maximum of 50 children and families at a time and nine of these children will take part in 2010 Project:Tomorrow.

The Finale Exhibition will be held in October at Copley Place Mall, Boston. The Preview night will be on October 14, 2010 and Simon Property Group has graciously agreed to host this event.

....a star studded night for all

October 7 was the Preview Party for the 2008 Project:Tomorrow Exhibition at Boston Children's Museum. Invited guests included families and friends of the nine Young Photographers and members of the Massachusetts General Hospital's Cancer Center staff. 

The Young Photographers and the Parents whom were photographed were allowed to enter the show about 15 minutes before the rest of the guests so that they could have a moment to view the images for the first time privately. Then, we all descended on the gallery.

 I think the operative expression here is..."a picture is worth a thousand words"

A special moment for a mother and her Young Photographer daughter whose father succumbed to his gallant battle with cancer a week before the Preview.

To close out the festivities, Dr. Paula Rauch Founder of Massachusetts General's PACT program did the honors by thanking all who made the event possible.... 

...and I got to give out "diplomas" to the Young Photographers.

I am sure that a good time was had by all and that this was an experience that these kids will not forget for a long long time. 

For me personally there aren't words to express the gratitude that I feel for having had the opportunity to share the experiences I did with these amazing kids and their equally amazing parents.

And last but not least I would be remiss if I did not thank my "project angel" Dola Stemberg for her generosity, vision and direction. Without her Project: Tomorrow would never have happened. Thank you a thousand times.

Dola with Museum President Lou Casagrande. 

...it was everything it was supposed to be and more!

Last Tuesday was OPENING NIGHT for my nine 2008 Young Photographers. Gail Ringel and her staff at Boston Children's Museum pulled out all the stops and I think the kids were blown away. What was extra special was the fact that THEY DELIVERED. The images they shot were wonderful... and so right-on for so many reasons.

At one end of the spectrum there was Chelsea's  portrait of her father who wrote, It's in my nature to make jokes and be funny.... 

Then, you had the more serious "Vogue centerfold model" approach taken by Stepehen's when he did his mother

Max and his father are both musicians so Max chose to catch dad "doing his thing". And that music that Max captured his dad "producing" was NOT an accident.

                                  Zoe,  Ashley and David chose to take a more "traditional portrait" approach, although the results were all far from "traditional". 

                                    It was indeed fitting that Caitlee would choose to photograph her mother with some of  her siblings... she is one of seven and mom is one of 10! 

While one might be hard pressed to know if Caitlin's mother was laughing or screaming in a state of abject terror as she did her best "Lance Armstrong", there is no mistaking her "enthusiasm for life".

Lastly, a picture that Kate took of her mom that "needs no caption" when it comes to her expression of the emotion that she and others, who have been triumphant in their battle with this terrible disease, feel.

The show runs until November 2, so if you happen to be in  town go see it. You will NOT be disappointed.

I have indeed been blessed with this project. The idea for it came up in a chance conversation that I had with a friend of mine (Dola Stemberg who became the project "angel"). She in turn introduced me to Dr. Paula Rauch of Mass General's PACT program... and the rest is history.I am forever grateful to the two of them and Gail Ringel of BCM for their confidence, support ....and patience. All the money in the world could not buy the experiences I have shared with these kids and their parents this summer.

Now I get to take some time off, enjoy the moment... and who knows I may even  think about next year's YPI KIDS project.

...it must be the full moon

This Full Moon, September 15, 2008, is in Pisces and is about emotion more than ever before.... from The Spiritual Eclectic.

I am a Pisces and today is the 15th..... and yes, today is ALL about emotion.

I collected the final canvas today. The journey is over, well almost over (the canvasses still need to be stretched and framed) and it has been an emotional roller coaster. But I am buoyed by the fact that I think that I/we have some of the most amazing images that will be going on display at Boston Children's Museum, starting on October 8 when 2008 Project: Tomorrow opens.

Shooting my images (I took pictures of the Child who was the Young Photographer in the Project:Tomorrow program with his/her Parent who was being/had been treated for cancer in the Marjorie E. Korff PACT (Parenting at a Challenging Time) Program at Massachusetts General Hospital ) was just an amazing experience. I basically let the Parents pick the venues in which they wanted to have the shot taken. The choices were as diverse as you could imagine. One was done at the top of a set of stairs that were dedicated to the Parent's mother, another by the ocean at a favorite picnic area, another in an arboretum and then a couple were simply shot in the backyard. In every case it was an experience... a unique experience. "Now you can't have a name on the T-shirt because everyone will focus on that and not you face"; "Do you think this necklace is too much"; "Mom, really... just try to act normal... pleeease!". I was able to do most families in a single sitting but in one case I needed four... patience I have seldom seen. What a group of troopers.

Then, there were the images taken by the kids with their Holgas. After a few false starts where I got some rolls of film back with double-exposure-itis, others with four images instead of 12, all nine kids hit their stride. How does the expression go: "Out of the mouths of babes..". Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the spectrum of images that they produced. Every thing form intense head on portraits to compositions that were completely off the wall.

A special Preview will be held just for the families and their invited guests on October 7. Each of the images will be accompanied by responses written by the parents and kids to questions about what the project has meant to them. None of the children or parents has seen the images taken by the kids or me or these writing assignments. The drill at the Preview will be that the nine children and their parents are going to be admitted into the Gallery for a brief period of time before any of the assembled guests so that they may share the experience of seeing this exhibit for the first time, privately. It is something they all are looking forward to and I am confident that it will be an emotional moment in time that all of the participants will cherish.