LightBright Project Shines on St. Stan’s Young Artists

In Greenpoint, community activism breeds a new generation of artists. Photographers Patrick Mulcahy and Randy Deutsch proudly looked on as graduates of their 10-week photography course, St. Stanislaus Kostka School’s fifth graders, exhibited their photographs.

“I pressed the button by accident during photography class, and it expressed how he was, lying down, tired,” said fifth-grader Ella Zalwska about “Richie,” her photograph which showed a boy leaning on his desk. “[During the class] I learned many things. I feel more confident now, I will take more pictures.”

That is exactly what Mulcahy and Deutsch want to hear. The duo, which met at “God’s Love We Deliver,” a volunteer organization that prepares food for HIV/AIDS victims, created the LightBright project in 2001, a grassroots operation that provides a free photography course to New York City youngsters. Since then their volunteer efforts have inspired a number of young photographers at several schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan. This year, St. Stanislaus Kostka School was the project’s lucky beneficiary.

Fifth-graders were given manual cameras, donated by Fuji Films and Cameras after Mulcahy wrote them a letter with the request. During the weekly course, the students learned lighting, perspective and how to express themselves with a camera through expert instruction by Mulcahy and Deutsch. Mulcahy’s friends at the Chelsea Photographic Services developed the photographs free of charge.

“They are learning to see things, pay more attention to their surroundings,” said Sister Dorothea Jurkowski. “[The photography class] gets them to realize that they are able.”

Indeed, it did. Gabriella Cirilo, who exhibited a dream-like image of a blurred red flower did not take pictures before she took the LightBright course.

“Now she’s always taking pictures,” said Gabriella’s mother, Zoraida Cirilo. “At family gatherings there is no pictures of her, she’s always the one taking them!”

Gabriella smiled excitedly at those words. “I really enjoy it,” she said.

Mulcahy and Deutsch plan to continue with LightBright for many years to come.
They said that as demand grows they may need to expand their operation, but they are hoping it stays as it is now, just the two of them with the help of some friends.

“Because if it was bigger, we wouldn’t get the juice,” said Mulcahy. “It’s a lot of blood sweat and tears, but at the end you feel a little taller.”

“For us, it’s about being able to see them through from square one,” said Deutsch. “Everybody is an artist, and we are all proud of their work.”