JOSEPHINE HERRICK PROJECT

Making photographs can transform people’s lives. JHP helps underrepresented New Yorkers do just that. We teach photography to and exhibit the work of a wide range of people, including low-income children; immigrant and refugee teens; youth and adults with physical, cognitive, and/or emotional disabilities; military veterans; and people living in public housing. Our powerful, free programs give them the skills to communicate across cultures and neighborhoods, helping them amplify their voices and advocate for themselves and their communities.


Our organization began in the 1940s as volunteers teaching photography to wounded World War II veterans under the leadership of photographer Josephine Herrick. We expanded our mission as Rehabilitation Through Photography and in 2013 renamed our nonprofit in her honor. We won the Lucie Humanitarian Award in 2017.

JHP alumni echo John, a veteran with PTSD, who said our program "has helped me use art to express things too painful for words." For Qianqian, a teen immigrant from China, struggling to learn English and find herself as an American, "photography class helped me learn to trust in myself." Her class portfolio helped her get into college.

We partner with community-based nonprofits to deliver bespoke, hands-on photography programs. Professional photographers teach technique, visual storytelling and literacy, and artistic, technical, and life skills. Every course results in a public exhibition, book, or both. Venues include schools, libraries, museums, and city parks and streets. We’ve taught some 500 people in each of the past two years.