Portraits in love
Photo show focuses on foster kids
NINE-YEAR-OLD Kathleen grinned playfully as she readied for her photo shoot.
“I’m so fabulous!” she said, while getting her hair braided.
The pint-sized fourth-grader was among five children in a special photo shoot by Heart Gallery NYC.
The nonprofit teams up with professional photographers and the city Administration for Children’s Services to do artful portraits of children in foster care.
The photographs are displayed in Heart Gallery NYC’S touring exhibit that travels to various venues citywide. Each exhibit includes a recruitment station where gallery staff refer interested families to the partnering foster care agency.
The hope is to raise awareness about some of the 13,380 children in foster care in the city and to help them find “forever families.”
“We want people to see that these are beautiful kids, inside and out,” said Laurie Sherman Graff, who heads Heart Gallery NYC. “They are kids just like any other. And what they need is love and a family.”
Shawnisha, 11, wants to be a teacher and pediatrician when she grows up.
“I like helping kids,” the shy sixth-grader said during the shoot at Bronx Museum of the Arts on Tuesday.
She likes writing stories and poems, and likes playing handball. Her idea of a perfect family? “Somebody I can trust,” she said, then grinned. “And I always wanted a little puppy. So I’d like to find a family with a puppy, too.”
Daquan, 13, would like people to know he’s “nice,” “caring” and “handsome.”
Dressed in a navy blue blazer, white polo shirt and khakis, the dapper eighth-grader wants to be a hip-hop dancer. He showed off some of his moves during his photo shoot.
Jasmine, 16, is a dancer, too. She likes bachata, salsa and merengue.
She also likes to hang out with her friends, go to the movies, go shopping and get her hair done.
“I’m just looking for a nice, loving and caring family,” she said thoughtfully. “I want a family who wants me for who I am, who are not just in it for the money.”
After his photo shoot, 15-yearold John admitted he was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. He still thought it was “cool.”
John is hoping for “a family with a good father and mother who’ll help you and go outside and play with you.”
And little Kathleen, who was dressed head-to-toe in pink, wants a “nice and perfect family.”
“I need a special home,” she said, “because I’m a princess.”