Surrounded by a world of activists boisterously exercising their freedoms listed in The Bill of Rights, New York City photographer Danny Goldfield makes his mark on the world by a simple point and shoot.

NY Children, the brain child of Goldfield, is an unusual mission: it is a silent one. By means of a camera and the children of New York City, it promotes cultural awareness by examining the importance of cultural exploration and identity.

Goldfield’s goal is to take a candid photograph of one child from each country, but the child must be currently living in NYC. Of the six continents the program plans to include, 136 countries were documented since summer 2004 when the project began.

In an online documentary provided by GOOD Magazine, Goldfield said although it started out as a photo project, it represents universality and human emotion in one city that’s connected to the whole world.

“It is amazing to see just how many different countries are represented on such a small island. [As for the world,] it could influence an acceptance of integration of different cultures,” freshman Olivia Ackerman said.

“[The project] shows that at such a young age the color of your skin doesn’t seem to matter if you're growing up in the same neighborhood, so why not put that harmony on display?” freshman Libby Russell said.

NY Children provides visual stimulation and emotional reaction without demanding a single point of view.

“Words can fail, but pictures are worth a thousand words,” sophomore Chris Pickens said. “Seeing art can slow people down, make them see things from other angles, and I certainly think this project will do that.”

Through media coverage, including “LIFE magazine,” “New York Daily News” and “HOY,” NY Children reaches out to find more children to participate in the organization. In the coming years, Goldfield hopes to document enough stories to host “Dream Event,” a project that will celebrate the children’s photographs.

Russell said that providing unique events like this or a project like NY Children can “simply open people’s minds to how beautiful and peaceful diversity can truly be.”

“I feel that this would definitely be a useful tool in educating the area about how diverse even a small county like Alamance in North Carolina can be,” freshman Christina Peterson said.

Features Editor: Caroline Matthews - 03/01/07