E.A.Kahane/AHRC

AHRC: PRESCHOOL PORTRAITS

From E.A. Kahane: "As a longtime supporter of AHRC, NYC, I spent many years as co-chair for their annual fund raiser, a trustee for over 10 years, and the first woman recipient of the Anthony M. Fisher Humanitarian Award. Over the years, I had visited the preschool many times, touring each year with a new honoree for our gala. It became the highlight of my involvement. I absolutely love the children. You come to realize, as the experts already know, how important it is to start the education of a special needs person as early as possible. It is a very focused, very specialized program, often involving multiple teachers for each student.

It was my great pleasure to be invited to photograph one of the students who struck a chord with its Principal, Beth Rosenthal. That one visit to photograph one student blossomed into my photographing all 160 of their students with varying degrees of disability. I felt compelled to include every child, and I did. I was taking Jay Maisel’s photo workshop at the time. Jay advised me to work with a V-Card and use the windows for natural light."

These photographs were exhibited as part of AHRC's Gala, Special Night for Special Children, 2016. All photographs ©EAKahane

2016, ©E.A. Kahane