Apple : Seeing Chicago differently with iPhone and iPad

FEATUREAugust 18, 2022

Seeing Chicago differently with iPhone and iPad

Participants of The Chicago Lighthouse's Photography for All program gain independence, confidence, and creative skills

Now in its fourth year, The Chicago Lighthouse's Photography for All program uses Apple technology to teach photography skills to teens who are legally blind or low vision.

Adetokunbo "Toks" Opeifa loves exploring Chicago. She travels the city unconcerned about losing track of a planned route, immersing herself in her environment and capturing photos of her surroundings with her iPhone. "Chicago is a grid system," she explains. "Even if you get lost, you don't really get lost, you just walk in the opposite direction and you'll end up somewhere."

In the first grade, Opeifa, now 18, was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, a retinal disorder that causes progressive vision loss and light sensitivity. This year, she is participating in Photography for All, a program for youth who have low vision or are legally blind, launched by nonprofit The Chicago Lighthouse in partnership with the city of Chicago's Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and Apple. Over the course of the six-week program, participants have learned technical photography, coding, and career-readiness skills, but most importantly, they've gained tools to help them navigate the world around them independently and confidently.

Photography for All is part of the city's One Summer Chicago youth employment initiative, which provides people ages 14 to 24 with internships and job opportunities at government institutions, community-based organizations, and companies throughout the city. Since 2017, Apple has supported the city's One Summer Chicago program through its Community Education Initiative, helping create opportunities for youth to develop new skills with Everyone Can Create and Everyone Can Code curricula. This summer, more than 200 students experienced opportunities in photography, videography, game design, coding, app development, augmented reality, and more through Apple-supported programs.

• Photography for All participant Alaula Sprecher is shown with her iPad.
• Two people shown from the behind use iPad to edit photos.
• Participant Lance Gladney shows teacher Lauren Mehalek a photo he took on his iPhone.
• Glen-David Hardy-Covington and John Johnson look at an iPhone screen.

Alaula Sprecher uses iPad to capture and edit photos she's taken this summer as part of the Photography for All program.

Apple experts assist program participants in using the camera and photography settings on iPad and iPhone, along with accessibility features built into the devices.

Lance Gladney's passion for art led him to The Chicago Lighthouse's Photography for All program. Lauren Mehalek (pictured) is the program's instructor this year.

Over the course of the program, students practiced photography skills while using Apple's built-in accessibility features, including Zoom, VoiceOver, and Image Descriptions.

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The Chicago Lighthouse provided each of the Photography for All participants with an iPad Air, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard to support their creativity. The iPad setup offered an expansive screen with tools to shoot, edit, and share their work. Many participants, including Opeifa, also used their own iPhone to capture photos on the go, seamlessly switching between devices depending on their needs.

Apple experts trained the students on using the camera and photography settings they would need, as well as the accessibility features built into the devices - including VoiceOver, Apple's built-in screen reader, and Zoom, which magnifies on-screen elements. For those using VoiceOver on iPhone and iPad, Image Descriptions available in the Camera app uses on-device machine learning to help position a subject and describe the objects, setting, and people in the field of view.

While visiting the Adler Planetarium and the surrounding Northerly Island Park for a final day of shooting, Opeifa double-taps her iPhone screen with three fingers in the Camera app to zoom in on the subject of her photo. "Before I discovered Zoom, I'd just hold my phone up all the way to my face," she says. "This way I can actually see better."

Opeifa has been using Apple technology since she was in kindergarten when her parents purchased the first-generation iPad to help her read her schoolwork digitally. She laughs at a memory of herself running around her family's home in Nigeria a few years later with an iPad mini, excited to add to her collection of Apple devices. Having spent much of her life using Apple technology, she is comfortable using her iPhone to get a better view of the world, and she's also learning how to edit her photographs on iPad. Whether she's navigating from one corner of the city to the next, or capturing flowers, the city skyline, and any other snapshots of urban life around her that pique her interest, Opeifa is hooked on visual storytelling.

I like when pictures tell a story. This program is a nice starting point for writing actual scripts because I'm learning [how] to actually portray visuals.

Adetokunbo "Toks" Opeifa

Adetokunbo Opeifa takes photos as she explores Northerly Island Park for a final day of shooting.

"I like when pictures tell a story," Opeifa says. "This program is a nice starting point for writing actual scripts because I'm learning [how] to actually portray visuals."

Opeifa prefers film and television as a visual medium to bring her stories to life, and she sees photo editing as a way to hone her screenwriting skills. "Screenwriting and editing photos are kind of the same thing - especially working with other people who are blind, you have to be very descriptive," she explains.

"I never get to see myself represented in television as a Black woman who is also a visually impaired, legally blind individual," adds Opeifa, who is heading to California this month to attend Chapman University to pursue screenwriting. "Television is a way for people to see themselves in different lights and different identities."

Opeifa is just one of several Photography for All participants with bold, big ideas for their future. Lance Gladney, who is passionate about pursuing a career in art, hopes to produce his own anime franchise. Gladney joined the program to experiment with a new form of visual art. John Johnson - participating in the program for a second year - is interested in electrical engineering or game design. And Alaula "Aihua" Sprecher is considering colleges where she can study computer science, physics, and astronomy.

• Gisselle Ayala's photo is of pink daisies.
• A self-portrait of Alaula Sprecher taken in front of a Ferris wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago.
• Alaula Sprecher's photo shows an interior corridor inside Harold Washington Library.
• Gisselle Ayala's action photo shows Glen-David Hardy-Covington and John Johnson in front of a senior center.
• Adetokunbo Opeifa's photo shows swan boats on the edge of a lake.
• Kearia Carter's photo shows a park splash pad.

This summer, Photography for All's participants traveled all over Chicago to capture photos, like this image of pink daisies by Gisselle Ayala.

Alaula Sprecher took this self-portrait in front of a Ferris wheel at Chicago's Navy Pier.

Alaula Sprecher snapped this shot detailing the interior of a corridor at Harold Washington Library.

Glen-David Hardy-Covington and John Johnson posed for this action shot taken by Gisselle Ayala.

Adetokunbo Opeifa took this photo of swan boats at Humboldt Park.

Kearia Carter captured this playful image of a park splash pad on a hot summer's day.

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Shelle Hamer, The Chicago Lighthouse's director of youth transition, and Lisa Davis, the former director of One Summer Chicago who brought the idea for Photography for All to The Lighthouse, are excited about the growth every participant experiences.

"Confidence and self-esteem are hard - or I thought would be hard - to zoom in and teach," says Davis, who also served as director of youth employment at DFSS before she retired. "But this program helped them open up and expose their confidence. It takes away the idea that they can't do this."

An artist herself, Hamer has enjoyed a four-decade career equipping individuals with disabilities with tools and education to help them lead more independent lives. When she and Davis launched Photography for All four years ago, she was intrigued by the prospect of how people see differently and express themselves creatively - and saw an opportunity to use Apple technology and Everyone Can Create curriculum to support that work.

• A close-up of Lisa Davis is shown outdoors.
• Shelle Hamer is shown walking outdoors with Alaula Sprecher.
• Adetokunbo Opeifa and Alaula Sprecher are shown seated next to each other.
• Photography for All participants showcase their photos at Apple Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Former director of One Summer Chicago Lisa Davis brought the idea for Photography for All to The Chicago Lighthouse.

Shelle Hamer, right, director of youth transition at The Chicago Lighthouse, says photography can serve as a critical tool for people who are legally blind or have low vision.

Alaula Sprecher, a rising high school senior, is interested in computer science, physics, and astronomy.

To close out the summer, Apple Michigan Avenue hosted a One Summer Chicago Code + Create showcase where Photography for All participants and other Chicago youth shared their projects with their community.

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"The tool of photography has a real benefit to people with vision loss," Hamer says, "from both the artistic side and the functional. All of the kids feel that they have expanded their ability to feel that they can travel anywhere, go to places they've never been before. The training they received on the accessibility features available on their iPhone and iPad has given them the confidence to navigate the city and feel independent in traveling around unfamiliar areas on their own."

And that's the overarching goal of the program, after all: supporting youth in their quest to be independent and instilling in them the confidence to take their future into their own hands. "It's just opened the world for them," Hamer says.

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• Text of this article

  August 18, 2022

  FEATURE

  Seeing Chicago differently with iPhone and iPad

  Participants of The Chicago Lighthouse's Photography for All program gain independence, confidence, and creative skills

  Adetokunbo "Toks" Opeifa loves exploring Chicago. She travels the city unconcerned about losing track of a planned route, immersing herself in her environment and capturing photos of her surroundings with her iPhone. "Chicago is a grid system," she explains. "Even if you get lost, you don't really get lost, you just walk in the opposite direction and you'll end up somewhere."

  In the first grade, Opeifa, now 18, was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, a retinal disorder that causes progressive vision loss and light sensitivity. This year, she is participating in Photography for All, a program for youth who have low vision or are legally blind, launched by nonprofit The Chicago Lighthouse in partnership with the city of Chicago's Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and Apple. Over the course of the six-week program, participants have learned technical photography, coding, and career-readiness skills, but most importantly, they've gained tools to help them navigate the world around them independently and confidently.

  Photography for All is part of the city's One Summer Chicago youth employment initiative, which provides people ages 14 to 24 with internships and job opportunities at government institutions, community-based organizations, and companies throughout the city. Since 2017, Apple has supported the city's One Summer Chicago program through its Community Education Initiative, helping create opportunities for youth to develop new skills with Everyone Can Create and Everyone Can Code curricula. This summer, more than 200 students experienced opportunities in photography, videography, game design, coding, app development, augmented reality, and more through Apple-supported programs.

  The Chicago Lighthouse provided each of the Photography for All participants with an iPad Air, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard to support their creativity. The iPad setup offered an expansive screen with tools to shoot, edit, and share their work. Many participants, including Opeifa, also used their own iPhone to capture photos on the go, seamlessly switching between devices depending on their needs.

  Apple experts trained the students on using the camera and photography settings they would need, as well as the accessibility features built into the devices - including VoiceOver, Apple's built-in screen reader, and Zoom, which magnifies on-screen elements. For those using VoiceOver on iPhone and iPad, Image Descriptions available in the Camera app uses on-device machine learning to help position a subject and describe the objects, setting, and people in the field of view.

  While visiting the Adler Planetarium and the surrounding Northerly Island Park for a final day of shooting, Opeifa double-taps her iPhone screen with three fingers in the Camera app to zoom in on the subject of her photo. "Before I discovered Zoom, I'd just hold my phone up all the way to my face," she says. "This way I can actually see better."

  Opeifa has been using Apple technology since she was in kindergarten when her parents purchased the first-generation iPad to help her read her schoolwork digitally. She laughs at a memory of herself running around her family's home in Nigeria a few years later with an iPad mini, excited to add to her collection of Apple devices. Having spent much of her life using Apple technology, she is comfortable using her iPhone to get a better view of the world, and she's also learning how to edit her photographs on iPad. Whether she's navigating from one corner of the city to the next, or capturing flowers, the city skyline, and any other snapshots of urban life around her that pique her interest, Opeifa is hooked on visual storytelling.

  "I like when pictures tell a story," Opeifa says. "This program is a nice starting point for writing actual scripts because I'm learning [how] to actually portray visuals."

  Opeifa prefers film and television as a visual medium to bring her stories to life, and she sees photo editing as a way to hone her screenwriting skills. "Screenwriting and editing photos are kind of the same thing - especially working with other people who are blind, you have to be very descriptive," she explains.

  "I never get to see myself represented in television as a Black woman who is also a visually impaired, legally blind individual," adds Opeifa, who is heading to California this month to attend Chapman University to pursue screenwriting. "Television is a way for people to see themselves in different lights and different identities."

  Opeifa is just one of several Photography for All participants with bold, big ideas for their future. Lance Gladney, who is passionate about pursuing a career in art, hopes to produce his own anime franchise. Gladney joined the program to experiment with a new form of visual art. John Johnson - participating in the program for a second year - is interested in electrical engineering or game design. And Alaula "Aihua" Sprecher is considering colleges where she can study computer science, physics, and astronomy.

  Shelle Hamer, The Chicago Lighthouse's director of youth transition, and Lisa Davis, the former director of One Summer Chicago who brought the idea for Photography for All to The Lighthouse, are excited about the growth every participant experiences.

  "Confidence and self-esteem are hard - or I thought would be hard - to zoom in and teach," says Davis, who also served as director of youth employment at DFSS before she retired. "But this program helped them open up and expose their confidence. It takes away the idea that they can't do this."

  An artist herself, Hamer has enjoyed a four-decade career equipping individuals with disabilities with tools and education to help them lead more independent lives. When she and Davis launched Photography for All four years ago, she was intrigued by the prospect of how people see differently and express themselves creatively - and saw an opportunity to use Apple technology and Everyone Can Create curriculum to support that work.

  "The tool of photography has a real benefit to people with vision loss," Hamer says, "from both the artistic side and the functional. All of the kids feel that they have expanded their ability to feel that they can travel anywhere, go to places they've never been before. The training they received on the accessibility features available on their iPhone and iPad has given them the confidence to navigate the city and feel independent in traveling around unfamiliar areas on their own."

  And that's the overarching goal of the program, after all: supporting youth in their quest to be independent and instilling in them the confidence to take their future into their own hands. "It's just opened the world for them," Hamer says.

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Chloe Sanchez Sweet

Apple

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Apple Media Helpline

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