An arts project called unseenamerica New York State was going to teach local workers how to photograph and write about their lives. The Community Darkroom, at 713 Monroe Ave., would lend them cameras and show them the rudiments of photojournalism. Early next year, the Center at High Falls and City Hall's Link Gallery would feature their work in special exhibits.

"I'd always wanted to do something like this," says Kuntz, 60, the secretary-treasurer for the Laborers 435 union of construction workers. "As a hobby, I took pictures from the old Can of Worms to the Grand Canyon. Now I'm learning how to take shots that really catch your eye."

Kuntz's daughter, Marcie Rush of Greece, has joined him at the Community Darkroom - along with workers from 10 unions, including Communications Workers of America and the Teamsters. The free classes are being held each Monday night through Dec. 19.

The 15 participants have been photographing activities central to their lives - family, friends or jobs. But sometimes they shoot whatever strikes their fancy.

"I photographed a bicycle rider on University Avenue balancing an enormous bag of empty cans on his head," says Kuntz. "Just today, I shot a rally in favor of Proposition 2 by the County Building."

Local teachers Tammie Malarich and Michael Parks give class members tips on using film cameras, composing shots and making prints. The participants also will write narratives and captions to explain their images.

"We'll have people from all political persuasions," she says. "It's more about their personal visions which, of course, can be political in nature."

"We aren't coming with preconceived images of the worker," adds Malarich. "We just give them the tools to photograph the world as they see it."

The national unseenamerica organization was founded in 2000 by the AFL-CIO, the national Workforce Development Institute and Bread and Roses - a working people's art project sponsored by the Service Employees International Union Local 1199. The initial focus was migrant workers, but the project soon began recording the lives of Philippine nannies, garment workers and steel mill employees. A New York state branch was formed a year and a half ago.

"This was a type of self-actualization," says regional coordinator Zoeann Murphy, a 24-year-old resident of Troy. "You learn about yourself when you turn the camera on your life. You start thinking about how you're being seen and how you fit in the larger labor movement."

A recent Oscar-winning film, Born Into Brothels, shows how a Manhattan photographer changes the lives of Calcutta prostitutes' children. She teaches them how to use cameras, then helps them exhibit the often-shattering images of their everyday lives.

Community Darkroom itself has helped City School District students to photograph their surroundings and display their work in local galleries. This highly successful program has run for seven years.

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