Melissa O'Neal
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Field: Deaf Education
Host: Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Grant Dates: 2004-2005

Melissa O’Neal, a U.S. Fulbright Student at the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College in Ireland, organized a photographic exhibition for deaf children. The title of the Show “Hear I Am” signifies the photographic voice of the children attending the Schools for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin.

Said O’Neal of the exhibition “…[It] presents chosen self-portraits that the students have created during four months of learning to use a camera and photographing who they are literally and symbolically. Photography can be a tool that fills the gaps and creates an outlet of expression without the need for any verbal or signed language. The photographs become a language of their own, telling a story, expressing emotions and, as a result, breaking down the language barriers.”

Fulbrighter Melissa O’Neal (third from left) with her students from the St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s Schools for the Deaf at the opening of their photographic exhibition in Dublin.

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