Collaborative photo exhibit between Niskayuna High School and Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital debuts May 25

Mercy Jenkins had never used a camera before ― let alone a computer.
That changed earlier this spring when Jenkins and several other Studio Art Project students from Sunnyview Hospital in Schenectady worked alongside advanced photography students from Niskayuna High School on a collaborative photo exhibit called, My World and Welcome to It.
Now interspersed among the other pictures on display at the Viewpoint Gallery at Sunnyview are two photographs created by Jenkins.
Niskayuna High School photography/video instructor Steve Honicki and Ruth Hall Daly, Director of Sunnyview Hospital’s Viewpoint Gallery, conceived of and developed this project which brought together approximately 30 students from different generations and different “worlds.”
Each student received the same assignment: To take photographs that would convey unique visions each saw in their everyday lives. The high school students used their own 35mm cameras, while the Sunnyview students used two single-use Black & White disposable cameras. With pictures taken and after two classes of photography lectures, all students got together in the e-Mac lab at Niskayuna High School. Seated at the computers, each Sunnyview student and at least two high school student assistants navigated their way through the extensive and often complicated world of Adobe Photoshop.
“The results were better than I imagined,” said high school senior Laura Staley, an advanced photography student. “The Sunnyview students were really great and a lot of fun to work with.”
The advanced photography students reviewed the photographs taken by the Sunnyview students and chose which pictures would be featured in the exhibit.
High school senior Diane Collins enjoyed teaching others. “We met with the Sunnyview folks to discuss their photographs and explained why we chose certain images,” she said. “It was a neat experience for all of us.”
Honicki agreed. “The interaction between the student groups was amazing,” he said. “The advanced photography students took ownership of the project and were truly invested in the success of their students.”
This exhibit was made possible by Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, the Viewpoint Gallery, Niskayuna High School Art Department, and in part through the Community Art$ Grant, a program funded through the State and Local Partnership Program of the New York State Council on the Arts and the Arts Center for the Capital Region.
My World and Welcome to It will run through July 20 at the Viewpoint Gallery.

to top