susan
12-23-2011, 01:01 AM
I have worked with Special Ed and At Risk teens for over 10 years. Day in, day out I spend my day doing my part in helping them get to graduation and doing what I personally can do to help build them up in their torn down worlds. Most of the kids I work with could never afford to have their senior photo taken. I am approached each year by several of my students to do just that. (Not every student is at poverty level that I shoot, but most are... I treat them all the same, whether they have money or not.... If they ask me, I shoot them.) I try to make each teen feel special and give them a few hours for their "senior portrait" session. Most of the kids, I shoot at school, in the hallway, classroom, or parking lot. Their wardrobe is typically limited. What they receive is a photo that I submit to the yearbook, (their choice of photo.) They receive a DVD of their images which includes a file with about 10-12 post processed pictures and a photographer's release so they can take the DVD to make prints. I do what I can to make them feel like their images match what their classmates would be like. They pay me in a hug and the promise to do what they can to graduate. Here are a few of the kids I shot this year.