For over a year, Isabelle Ginsberg, 17, photographed the same park.
asserted
Ginsberg → photograph → park
Every Saturday, and most Sundays, she wandered through Prospect Park.
asserted
she → wander → Park
The Brooklyn teen captured the park in summer, then winter and spring.
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teen → capture → summer
She walked along the same paths, capturing different angles and emotions.
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She → walk → angles
This attention to detail wasn't just about composition, light or nailing the perfect angle.
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attention → nail → angle
As a photographer, she cared deeply about all those things, but this time, the weight she’d placed on each frame was greater.
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she → care → frame
She wanted the photographs to tell a story and, eventually, to do some good.
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photographs → want → good
After careful curation, Isabelle Ginsberg’s photographs were framed and displayed on gallery walls at a community print sale.
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photographs → frame → sale
People could take a piece of Prospect Park home with them, but the money they spent was meant for something bigger.
uncertain
they → take → something
The proceeds were donated to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to support cancer research and patient care, a cause that was deeply personal to Ginsberg and her family.
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that → donate → Ginsberg
She knew what that meant.
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that → know → what
In 2020, when her father was diagnosed with brain cancer, she experienced her whole world crumbling.
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world → diagnose → cancer
She knew what help meant at that point.
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help → know → point
So, she wanted to pay it forward.
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she → want → it
This is the story of how a Brooklyn teenager turned her eye for the world into a fundraiser for cancer research.
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teenager → turn → research
Turning passion into purpose
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Turning → turn → purpose
Pic credit: Brooklyn Paper/ Lauren Walsh, Isabelle Ginsberg
It started simply enough: weekend walks with her mother through the sprawling green space, camera in hand.
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It → start → hand
The kind of work a teenager might keep to themselves, posted to Instagram and filed away.
uncertain
teenager → keep → Instagram
“I just started taking photos for fun,” Ginsberg told Brooklyn Paper.
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Ginsberg → start → Paper
But then it transformed into something else.
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it → transform → something
She thought about her dad, who is now in remission, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020.
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who → think → 2020
“And because my dad had cancer, we just had the idea to have a fundraiser.
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we → have → fundraiser
I felt that we should try to raise money for cancer research because it’s a cause really important to me,” she told the outlet.
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she → feel → outlet
By September, a year's worth of Prospect Park moments had become 30 framed prints and a community event.
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worth → become → moments
Nearly all of them sold.
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all → sell → them
A mother’s eyes and daughter’s lens
Pic credit: Brooklyn Paper/ Lauren Walsh, Isabelle Ginsberg
Lauren Walsh, Isabelle's mother, has spent years working in photography and exhibition curation.
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Walsh → spend → photography
She noticed her daughter’s eye for composition and light.
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She → notice → composition
She encouraged Isabelle to share her work with the world.
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She → encourage → world
“I had some experience with this.
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I → have → this
And as Isabelle mentioned, a couple of years back, her father had brain cancer, so on a very personal, firsthand level, she’s experienced what it means to grapple with cancer inside your family and to watch someone go through a major surgery and chemo and recovery,” Walsh said.
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Walsh → mention → surgery
What started as a simple hobby soon turned into a community service.
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started → start → service
The mother and daughter decided to support cancer research and patient care by selling these photographs.
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mother → decide → photographs
They chose Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as the beneficiary.
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They → choose → beneficiary
“It started as a hobby and turned out she’s really got a very good eye,” Walsh said.
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Walsh → start → eye
“And the idea was just to bring these two things together, an experience that was initially very terrible, alongside the love of creative practice and how do we kind of put that together in a way that can have community impact,” she added.
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she → bring → impact
On September 13, the VFW Post on Prospect Avenue in Windsor Terrace opened its doors for the print sale.
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Post → open → sale
The photographs came down from the park walls and moved into the neighbourhood itself, which, as it happened, was the whole point.
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it → come → neighbourhood
The turnout surprised Isabelle.
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turnout → surprise → Isabelle
Attendees were delightful and were purchasing her photographs.
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Attendees → purchase → photographs
“It went really well.
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It → go → ?
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
