My feelings about being photographed every day for a school year. By Kelly Esposito Age 9

It's sort of annoying when you get your picture taken for 180 days because it's like you're being stalked. It's also annoying when your dad is taking pictures every 20 seconds. Taking them in the car, in the house, at school. Especially knowing that the pictures being taken are going into a book. It's also a tiny bit embarrassing when you're at school and your dad is taking pictures of you. And what if the picture looks weird? They're going into a book! And I think my brother has the same feelings. Having your picture taken every day for a school year is strange. How would you like it??????

Left Behind

As I was finishing a personal project photographing an abandoned hospital in my town, I realized that I was missing part of the story. Everywhere I looked, there were items left behind, scattered all over the floor, around the grounds, and crammed into over flowing waste paper baskets. I decided that I would take items that I felt were pertinent to the story or caught my eye in some way. Instead of photographing them in their found environments, I decided I would take them off premise and and re-create what I was feeling at the time.

The cross and the Union Bible were found outside the buildings along side the food service entrance. I have no idea why they were there or how they got there, or even why they were left behind. They stood out amongst all the garbage created from clean up crews. I was inspired to take them into the studio and create an image that had emotion and feeling and convey how I felt when I stumbled upon them.

If I could take a picture of anything what would it be? By Tommy Esposito age 12

If I could take a picture of anything it would have to be an alien. I would take a picture of an alien because they are out of this world.  The other night while me and my Dad slept downstairs,  my Dad fell asleep late.  I was still awake and I thought I saw an alien space ship landing on an apartment building close by.  I was terrified that the aliens knew I saw them and were coming to get me.  So I tried to wake my Dad up,  but he wouldn't budge.  I thought I heard them in the living room coming to get me so I grabbed the only thing available,  my Dad's digital camera.  I thought I might be able to blind them for a second with the camera flash.  In the end it turned out to be our dog Max rolling around in the dining room.  Even though I was scared,  it would have been really cool to have taken the first picture of a real live alien.  Tommy Esposito

180, A Year of School Mornings

Has your child ever come to you to complain that it's not fair that school is so long; that school should only be 6 months and the other half of the year vacation? I have tried repeatedly to explain to my children that there are only 180 school days and 365 days in a year. To a child, this does not compute as they only see one side of the story; school starts in September and ends in June....10 long months if school!

In late August, as I started to dread the long school mornings of crying, complaining, and trying to get them out of bed, I decided to document their school year in pictures. More specifically, school mornings. I thought it would be interesting to study their moods, behaviors, triumphs, failures and fears in photographs. The images in this book take place over the course of one full school year from 7:00 a.m. to 8:25 a.m..

Our routine is fairly straightforward and never varies. This made it challenging and interesting at the same time to document a full year of mornings. The settings, time of day and subjects are always the same. What makes it interesting to me are the moods conveyed on a daily basis, which vary from rage to elation. Elation on school mornings are reserved for Fridays and the days just before long breaks. Rage, tears, anger and frustration for just about every other day of the year.

As a parent, I cannot think of anything more rewarding than to be with my kids every morning and to see them off to school, to be able to share their frustration, anger, joy and the myriad of emotions that go along with the educational experience.