Editor's Letter: Get Involved!

This spring, Mary Carrington’s picture of
the Coney Island boardwalk took 2nd place
in an online photo contest called “Discover
America Through Postcards.” It was an exciting
win for the 40-year-old Brooklynite and
her companions in the Block Institute Photo
Group, 20 developmentally disabled adults
who are learning photography and volunteering
their own services as photographers.
They started just two years ago with a handful of members shooting with
single-use cameras—now they share a compact digital camera, tripod,
and other gear. “Therapeutically, it’s been incredible,” says Todd Adelman,
director of special projects at the Block Institute in Brooklyn.