Slideshow for Portfolio

Date: 04/16/2007 Children and adults alike at New York's Battery Park seek reprieve from the late August heat by cooling off in the fountains of the Battery Bosque.

Date: 04/28/2006 In international relations theory, professor Joseph Nye created the concept of nations having "hard power" and "soft power"; pictured here is an illustration of hard power's coercive force (military might, fiscal power, and economic supply) as contrasted against soft power's attractive force (evidenced in cultural phenomenons such as Coca-Cola or Hollywood).

Date: 04/16/2007 Jackson Muise and his mother, Jamie Lilly, watch fireworks from Freedom Plaza as part of D.C.'s Emancipation Day celebration on April 17, 2006.

Date: 04/16/2007 As part of the "Green Kids at Market Day" on DuPont Circle, an event hosted by Les Dames d'Escoffiers to educate children about the importance of eating fresh and healthy foods, Ethan Oppenheimer, 3, is assisted in his vegetable bug-building by father Joe Neale.

Date: 04/16/2007 A drum circle has been meeting on Sunday afternoons in Washington's Malcolm X Park for decades. On one such Sunday in mid-August 2006, the last few die-hard drummers and dancers finally bring the beat to a conclusion shortly after 9PM.

Date: 04/16/2007 Ben Gilligan of French Toast plays for a small crowd as part of a musical festival at "The Red and the Black," a just-opened live music venue on H Street NE. The H Street strip has seen a host of development in recent years as crime rates in the area continue to fall.

Date: 04/16/2007 Like most seven-year-olds, Danny KramerÕs always on the go. What sets him apart is where he goes; as a child who has autism, he often retreats into a world of his own, singing to himself and moving ceaselessly.

Date: 04/16/2007 PetcoÕs pet carriers proved irresistible, and Danny climbed inside while waiting for check-out. This is not his primary means of transit.
Danny is Òuncontrollable,Ó in the words of his mother; yet the lack of understanding from other adults is more challenging than his misbehavior. Mrs. Kramer has printed cards that describe autism - ÒA Spanking WonÕt Help,Ó to paraphrase - and distributes them when DannyÕs willfulness attracts negative attention.

Date: 04/16/2007 The Kramers love a good game of hide-and-seek. Danny Kramer is exiting, frame left; his mother, Andrea, is chasing him as his ten-year-old sister, Jesse, plays with her laptop. (She was drawn into the game several minutes later.) Danny often asks his father, Carlos (not pictured), to help him hide. His parents arenÕt entirely convinced that he understands the premise, as he tends to choose the same place each time, but Danny loves playing regardless.

Date: 04/16/2007 To a parent, autism is heartbreaking. Children with autism seem to develop normally until around three years of age, at which point they visibly backtrack in development - regressing linguistically and behaviorally. This progress is hard regained, putting autistic children years behind their peers.

Yet they are still children; they delight in their private games and devices, and in exploring their parents' boundaries; they dance the light fantastic with gleeful abandon, as in Danny's creative use of a playground swing.

Date: 04/16/2007 Young Mr. Kramer enacts a city in his living room, by means of Megablox and playing cards. He knows his city innately. Andrea Kramer once switched two blocks while Danny was at school; Danny immediately spotted and fixed the errant block. The cityÕs design and order is so important to Danny that his mother is able to use this as a disciplinary measure - ÒDonÕt make me put away the blocks!Ó

Date: 04/16/2007 Mark Sherrett, 25, loves horseback riding. He rides every Sunday, weather permitting, at the Piscataway Riding Stable in Clinton, MD.
Mark has autism. He is largely non-verbal; although he understands language, he rarely speaks more than a few words at a time.
Here, Mark waits for a horse at Piscataway, as his younger brother Daniel and mother Marie converse. It was his motherÕs first time riding, and Mark surrendered his long-time horse to her, so that she would be sure to have a good one.

Date: 04/16/2007 Marie Sherrett proudly displays her family's awards, including at least one bowling trophy won by Mark.

Mark bowls most Saturday mornings with a Maryland Parks and Planning bowling team, organized for adults with developmental disabilities. He scored 130 points, which significantly outpaces this photographerÕs bowling ability. Two games only - more would be practice, and practice ÒdoesnÕt count.Ó

Date: 04/16/2007 Mark works at Cintas, a company that makes uniforms.

He is remarkably open-minded about exceptions to his daily routine, as long as an environment of constancy is available. Here, the Sherretts are attending a cousin's open house; the hubbub overwhelmed Mark, and he sensibly sought relief by locating a couch downstairs.

Similarly, Mark often travels with his mother; the shock to his routine is negated by using a Jacuzzi and pool at each host hotel.

Date: 04/16/2007 Mark delights in horse-themed dcor, as evidenced by his shower curtain.

Mark's affection for horses is more than superficial appreciation. Horseback riding is widely cited as a therapy for those with autism; indeed, Mark is to be an example of its effectiveness in a soon-to-be-published book.

Date: 04/16/2007 But when heÕs on horseback, all of the indignities and minor outrages of a life lived slightly out of mesh with the rest of humanity melt away, and for an hour, heÕs John Wayne, riding off into the sunset - no less proficient than anyone else, no less happy, and as intent and noble as one can be.