Mr. White, who is a high school teacher in East Northport, NY, wanted to educate his students on the need to assist the underprivileged. He began by bringing student volunteers to homeless shelters and soup kitchens in New York City. Soon, his work expanded to providing disaster relief on a national level and then, eight years ago, Mr. White became involved in community service work with a small village in Nicaragua. He continues to visit each year, bringing food, medical and educational supplies, and his students, so that they may learn about Nicaraguan culture firsthand. Brendan has accompanied his father on these trips for the past five years and has reveled in the experience.

The first time Brendan went to Nicaragua he was a freshman at Northport High School. He brought with him a camera that he rented from the school, just as an experiment. Several rolls of film later, Brendan has developed a huge library of people, places and things that bring the small town to life. His experience and photographic success abroad inspired him to "take things to the next level" and enroll in the AP Studio Art class at his high school. "I have always been interested in fine arts and media arts," says Brendan, "and at Northport, the art department is so supportive, I almost had to give it a shot." Having painted various murals in schools and churches abroad, Brendan originally began his Concentration with a study of fruits and vegetables on nine-foot canvases. At the very last minute, however, he felt compelled to draw on his true inspiration and processed a number of photos from his most recent trip abroad.

"This photo is of a woman named Estella," explains Brendan, "someone I see each time I visit." Estella and the elder women in her community spend most of their days cooking for their American guests. They pride themselves on the hospitality that they and their small community of 7,000 can return to their visitors. Estella's daughter was involved in an American Exchange program along with others from the village who come to New York and raise money for their hometown by dancing and singing at local cultural events. For Brendan, the photo symbolizes his relationship with the community and the sharing of culture and family.

Brendan had a very positive experience with AP: "My teacher, Margaret Minardi, was incredibly supportive of the students in AP Studio Art. I took full advantage of her experience with fine art and how it related to my photography." He now plans to pursue photojournalism as a career and is currently studying commercial photography with a concentration in Fashion and Marketing at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. Brendan chose FIT to enhance his technical skills and is enjoying the diversity that the institute offers, but he is anxious to hone his craft on a more global level. His fluency in Spanish and Italian will certainly help in that regard. Once he completes his program at FIT, Brendan wants to take his camera to Italy and document more interesting people and places. He also plans to eventually pursue a Masters in Education -- possibly at NYU or maybe even in Europe. Chances are, we'll see Brendan's work in some national publications in the future!