Several years ago, I worked with an editor at book publisher Walker and Company to create a book about a drug education program in the Bronx in which sixth grade kids were shown, not just told, the legal and health risks of drug use. The program consisted of four sessions, one each week. In the first session, an Assistant District Attorney and a nurse came into their classroom to tell them about the program. Next, they visited a hospital to talk to nurses and doctors and see the problems of babies born to drug addicted mothers. In the third session, they visited an actual trial of an accused drug dealer and talked to the judge, and finally, they conducted their own mock trial and spoke with the Bronx District Attorney. I accompanied the kids on each of the sessions, working with a Bronx Assistant D.A., hospital personnel, corrections officers and judges to make the necessary arrangements to photograph each of the sessions. At the end of the program, I reviewed the photographs and my experiences with a writer who was then assigned to the project. When the text was completed, I worked with the writer, editor and designer at Walker to develop the book's title and create the finished book.

All images © Toby McAfee Photography