It didn’t have to go anywhere beyond that first project. It just did. We had some really strong people in our early years and have some really strong people involved now. While the first project was very girl-oriented and made statements, the next year Nancy Gordon decided to lead the project, and gender was not a concern for her. So that’s just how we started including guys. We have no problem with doing another project exclusively for girls. Girls tend to be the majority of kids we work with anyway. There’s more trust when it’s just girls. more... "Bill Hunter, chief photographer, hired me as the first woman on the staff of about 10 photographers. During my ten year stint at The Beacon Journal I won the award of Ohio News Photographer of the Year in the Ohio News Photographers Association's annual contest. The year was 1977 and I was the first woman to win the award." more... "Like every other day (laughs) ... I've been working on this for over three years now -- from the moment I wrote my first four-page proposal; it's now 65 pages long. I barely knew anything about the issue in the world of child labor issues, and I just had this thing I had to do. Looking back at the last three years, sometimes near starvation because that's all I was doing, I think, 'Would I do this again if I knew all that I know now?' And I'm like, "Yeah, probably.' " more... "One of their women of the year a couple of years ago turned out to be the spokesperson for the plus-size models. Her name is Emme (Aronson). On the other hand, it's hard for fashion magazine editors to see the plus-size woman because their in a catch-22. Not that many photographers are going to want to shoot the plus-size models. At least this was true a couple of years ago. Fashion photographers want to shoot beautiful, young, thin girls. Period. And these are the photographers that can afford to be very picky and choosy. I can't tell you when that's going to go away." more... "You can't sleep the night before and then it all turns out fine. Actually I have a funny story about that. ... I didn't sleep at all the night before. I tried counting sheep. I tried breathing techniques. I tried watching bad movies until I finally just gave up. So around 5:30 I just got up and got ready for the conference. I went downstairs shortly after and sat behind the registration table all dressed and ready to go. Nobody was there, it was a ghost town. So Maria Mann from AFP walks by and goes, 'Oh, my God. I need a camera. You look so funny.' And I said, 'I'm ready. Lets do this!' " more... "I got comments, like 'Hey Toots!' and things like that. I would give it right back to them, call them Old Fart and Geezer. I'm sure that the conversations we had in 1982 wouldn't really be tolerated right now in the newsroom. But at the time it seemed that my survival instinct kicked in. I remember when I got promoted to Director of Photography at the Sun-Times, I was under 30. The chief photographer who I thought was going to be very angry said, 'As long as you don't put curtains in the window I don't care. I think you're a good broad.' " more...