ROCKLAND  — In his New York City neighborhood, Brunswick native Michael Kamber stands out for the color of his skin. He is Caucasian within a darker, more diverse neighborhood of the South Bronx. And one of his methods for drawing students to his nonprofit youth photography program has caused mothers from across the street to become suspicious of his intentions. One normally doesn’t just stand in the doorway and invite passing children to enter.

But that method has been successful for the cofounder of the Bronx Documentary Center, a program for inner city youth that brings photography back into scope following the complete elimination of all extracurricular activities from the public school system.  

“We started with a handful of students. Now we have 46,” he said as the four students with him mingled nearby, receiving an impromptu tutorial on how to break into a boiled lobster. “Next year we’re hoping to bring more,” he said.

Three other students are studying in Japan this summer.

This past week, Kamber turned the tables on his usual minority status by loading up a 14-seat van bound for Maine; blending in with his native state, while allowing some of his Bronx students to see the source of his upbringing.

After graduating from art school, Kamber landed freelance photography gigs in New York City for major media sources such as Routers and the Associated Press. Within his 25-year journalism career, he covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, the Sudan, Somalia, and the Congo for the New York Times.

Currently, he lectures as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He’s won many awards, and has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Though all four students on this trip were born in the United States, their blood is of St. Croix, Cruzan, Dominican, Maltese, and Senagalese. Their loud, busy neighborhoods in New York teem with diversity and culture. Yet, the Midcoast of Maine and its residents left their own impression.

During the interview process for our article Teen photographers from South Bronx experience quiet side of life in Rockland, each youth was asked what resonated most from their time at a lobster pound, a cemetery, and a few other places. Instead of speaking of the activities themselves, they spoke of an atmosphere uncapturable by camera.

The people around them were friendly.

At night, at least a few members had trouble sleeping due to the quietude.

While walking the breakwater, an older gentleman fishing from the side approached them and engaged them in conversation.

For 12-year-old Fanta, whose mother works 12 hours a day every day, her favorite memory was of eating family-style meals with host Annie Mahoney and the adult chaperones.

And for Fritzi, a 15-year-old swimmer, testing the Maine waters with Fanta was the highlight.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com.