Local Students, 'Critical Exposure' Featured on Oprah, CNN

Local Students, 'Critical Exposure' Featured on Oprah, CNN

Shows Highlight Student Photos, Non-Profit Advocating for Quality Education

WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Photographs from local high school students working with Critical Exposure, a local non-profit organization, were featured this week on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 for their successful efforts to document and change the conditions of their schools through photography.

The students featured this week are just two of nearly 100 students who have worked with Critical Exposure to photograph their schools and advocate for change. Critical Exposure is a non-profit organization teaching students basic photography and giving them opportunities to document conditions, positive and negative, that exist in Baltimore and D.C. public schools.

"Who better to illustrate the struggle to secure a quality education than the students themselves?" asked Adam Levner, co-founder and co-director of Critical Exposure. "The photographs by Brandon, Robert and the other students show the exposed radiators, peeling paint and broken windows they confront every day. Their work opens the eyes of the public and legislators to needed changes and speaks far louder than any lobbyist ever could. Through photography and advocacy, these students have shown a remarkable ability to improve their school conditions, their education and their lives."

Students Brandon Wilkins and Robert Gorham from Washington D.C.'s Eastern High School were featured this week on The Oprah Winfrey Show's series "American Schools in Crisis." On the program, Robert and Brandon showed their photographs and discussed the motivation behind them, explaining to millions of viewers that "these students deserve better." The students and their photographs were also featured later that night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

"I did not actually realize how bad my school really was until I took pictures of it. Once I realized the conditions of my school were so terrible, I knew I couldn't accept this and decided to do something about it," Robert said.

Thanks to the students' telling photographs and their work with Critical Exposure to get these conditions noticed, "better" is -- slowly -- becoming a reality. Recently, the students' powerful images and testimony were part of a successful campaign to convince the District of Columbia City Council to spend one billion dollars over the next 10 years to modernize public schools. In nearby Maryland, similar photographs helped compel the Maryland General Assembly to nearly double funding for Baltimore City school facilities.

"Critical Exposure has brought the reality of students' daily lives in dilapidated schools to the attention of policymakers, through their photographs and voices," said Bebe Verdery, Director of the Maryland ACLU's Education Reform Project.

Critical Exposure aims to bring about significant public education reform by equipping students with cameras and advocacy training. Most recently, Critical Exposure hosted an exhibit and reception for lawmakers in Annapolis, MD, showcasing 45 black-&-white student photographs documenting conditions in their Baltimore schools, including images of broken heaters, broken toilets, and empty library shelves, as well as images showing positive aspects of their education.

For more information about Critical Exposure, to learn more about recent projects and to see student photographs, contact Adam Levner, Co-Director, at (202) 258-6626 or adam@criticalexposure.org. Additional information is available at www.criticalexposure.org and www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200604/20060411/slide_20060411_284_110.jhtml.

Source: Critical Exposure

CONTACT: Adam Levner of Critical Exposure, +1-202-258-6626

Web site: http://www.criticalexposure.org/

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