I AM: New York

With the aim of further developing the ‘interactive self-portrait’ process after the first pilot project in Paris, children of Columbia County, NY were invited to participate in one of three workshops. Offered as part of Omi International Arts Center’s educational program, children gathered in the Charles B. Benenson Gallery to take turns clicking their own photos and making self-portrait drawings.

The workshop was taken a step further by the creation of ‘thought-bubble portraits’. While the photograph announces true physicality, the unseen imagination can be captured inside the shape of a cloud – the universal symbol for the communication of thoughts, ideas, and the unspoken word. Representational or abstract, the ‘thought-bubble’ portraits offer greater insight into the identity of each child, and function as an unharnessed outlet for dreaming.

All of the participants received an 8×12 photographic print of a select portrait. The children of I AM: New York are part of the collection that continues to travel the globe, transcending continental divides by putting kids ‘face-to-face’ through pictures.

Very special thanks to Ruth Adams, Francis Greenburger, Omi International Arts Center.