Charlee Brodsky

The Image of Learning

A sobering tour through the jail. An evening spent with incarcerated women. These aren’t your standard lectures — and that’s just what Charlee Brodsky wants.

Brodsky, a photography professor in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design, aims to get her students out of the classroom with her course, ‘Lydia’s Place’ — which uses photography to strengthen ties between incarcerated women and their children.

“It’s important to me to get the students off campus and not only learn from books,” explained Brodsky. “I’m a documentary photographer, so I want to show them the world that is beyond their own. I think social issues are really important and Carnegie Mellon stresses that. Carnegie Mellon cares about the world. Photography is a way that I can connect my students to people.”

Brodsky pointedly did not limit her class to photography students. They have come from disciplines as diverse as history and math.

The project course is run in collaboration with Lydia’s Place, a local non-profit dedicated to “helping female offenders and their children rebuild their lives.”

Students are able to connect with the women and children in a variety of ways, including attendance at support groups meetings and ‘Mother’s Voice’ book readings. Photography facilitates the bonding, and students collaborate on a final book documenting the semester.

For her work and commitment to social issues, Brodsky, along with the staff of Lydia’s Place, will be honored today by the Pittsburgh City Council with a proclamation of recognition.

Brodsky was nominated by her student, Lauren Grant (HS'09), who was so moved by the class that she enrolled twice.

“The course was so much more than photography,” Grant explained. “It’s a unique opportunity for students to do important research that’s not in the classroom…to get first-hand information that you don’t get from the books.”

“Charlee was amazing,” Grant added of her nominee. “She just dives into work that’s often difficult to talk about. She’s really passionate about what she does.”

Brodsky is dedicated to bringing important issues to light, including the policy of imprisoning addicted women rather than treating them.

“One of the outcomes of the course is to show people what’s going on,” Brodsky emphasized. “This story should be heard. Because of the crime in our country right now due to addiction, it’s a story that everyone should know.”

Drawings by Jason May (A'10).

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