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In 2009, two new books (which were described below while in progress) were finally released. Look in the Published Works section of this site for details on Steel Drumming at the Apollo and Elephants and Golden Thrones.

Friend Power, which was due out in fall 2008, has been re-scheduled for release in 2010. Kindergarten Day is still on track for release in 2010. It compares a kindergarten school day in America and in China. Kindergarten Day will be a flip book so after you read about one class, flip the book over to see how different (and similar) it is on the other side of the world.

Pura Vida follows ten-year-old twin brothers on a visit to a Costa Rican rainforest. I have appreciated the opportunity to work on a nature-oriented project again, my first since Berry Smudges. This project has also given me a chance to pursue my interest in sustainability.

The latest NAEYC calendar is out. Many thanks to my friends at NAEYC who helped me set up photoshoots in the DC area where I gathered many of the images for this year’s calendar. The calendar can be ordered at their website.

Stock licensing of Ellen Senisi Image Archives has been doing well. Well enough that between meeting the demands of that business and working on children’s books there has been no time to process about 6,000 images now sitting on hard drives. Time to process images has also been stretched thin by several professional development events and a complete equipment and workflow overhaul this winter. All this, though, along with adding and training an assistant, will make the business more efficient in the coming year. If you are a photo researcher you will probably want to contact me about what I have waiting to be processed if you don’t see what you want in the current archives.


2007 has been a busy year and it will take me well into 2008 to turn around all the images captured this year for both book projects and stock. I photographed for two book projects in China that have been in the planning stages for awhile now. Elephants and Golden Thrones, about China's Forbidden City will be available in spring 2008. Read and see more about this book in the Published Works section.

Friend Power was photographed in elementary school classrooms in Shanghai and Schenectady, New York, and will be available in fall of 2008.

A contract was signed for a new book project about kindergarten that follows a kindergarten day in American and Chinese classrooms. This project will be done in collaboration with writer Trish Marx and will be published by Charlesbridge. I'm giving books about China a rest for now and am working on proposals on several very different subjects.

The Apollo book I've written about before will finally be out late this winter! At 56 pages, with almost a hundred photos and a CD of the boys’ music included, it showcases the energy and talent of these seven special teens. It will be available in late January. Read and see more about this book in the Published Works section.

The searchable database of all my Image Archives seems to be working well for photo researchers. If you haven't checked it out yet, give it a try. Close to ready for release into the Archives is a collection of photographs of children with special needs taken early this year at Albany's Center for Disability Services. Observing and photographing the effort and courage required by these kids to do basic tasks we all take for granted was humbling indeed.
Photos: from Center for Disability Services


I also photographed in many early childhood settings in the quest for calendar-quality images for the NAEYC calendar. Images in the archive pipeline include infants through age 5 at two of the finest early childhood settings I have seen. One was a Montessori school and the other was a lab school at a university. Since they are not archived yet, it's worth requesting on a specific topic you might need in this area if you don't see exactly what you need in my current image archives.

The NAEYC calendar is available for order. Single calendars cost $11 while quantities of over 25 sell for $6. Orders can be placed at the NAEYC Store.

After months of researching the right web-based software, learning how to use it, then writing text and uploading 10,000 + images – my complete Image Archives are online! I’m still tweaking it so feel free to send suggestions.


The photographs done last spring while working on the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) calendar have been moving well so I decided to photograph in more early childhood settings this spring. This will enable me to gather more material for NAEYC’s Journal issues and 2008 calendar, which I will be doing for them again this year. I will photograph in upstate New York and in Washington, DC at some interesting, new schools.


I took many photos this winter at Center for Disability Services in Albany, NY. The photos are in a great environment, include the use of special adaptive equipment, and show good interaction between kids and kids as well as kids and adults. It will be summer before they are archived but if I receive a request list for these kinds of photos, will make them available.


The book about the teen musicians playing at the Apollo is getting ready for production; it will be out in September 07. (That means I’ll soon have out takes of teens playing music and interacting to add to the Image Archive collection.) I will be in China the first two weeks of April getting the photographs for the Friends book and the Forbidden City book.

What is friendship about? Working with writer Trish Marx, I will photograph students in 2 classsrooms - one in America and one in China - as they interact with their friends and use technology to make international friends. We'll be curious to experience what New York and Shanghai have in common. Lee & Low will publish the book in 2008.


Stories about real people who once lived in China’s Forbidden City will be illustrated with Ellen’s photographs as well as illustrations and photos from Forbidden City archives. This book will be done in collaboration with writer Trish Marx and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers in 2008.

The publication date for this Bebop book has been changed from September 2006 to September 2007.
Due out from Lee & Low in September 2007, this project (being done in collaboration with Trish Marx) is well underway. Photography and text should be completed in October and the book will go into production then. It's been an interesting change from photographing infants and toddlers all spring! Taking photographs while listening to good, live music is unbeatable. Lee & Low has decided to release a CD of the boys'music with the book so readers can hear these talented young musicians as well as read about them.

Recent Photo Shoots and News - August 2006

+ Recent Subjects Spring 2006 was busy! I photographed on assignment and for stock, plus lots of previously submitted material was published. My self-assignment was to update my child development material, especially infants and toddlers, after re-educating myself on human development concepts. I also managed to fit in some special education subjects, family relationships, and intermediate level elementary classrooms.

+ Early childhood material in DC
I traveled to Washington, DC in May to photograph at two very interesting and different early childhood centers: Rosemount Head Start (a bilingual daycare center) and School for Friends (a Quaker-influenced preschool). That material is now archived and may be requested.

+ Calendar 2007
My favorite recent assignment was providing photographs for an early childhood education calendar for NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), the professional organization for early childhood education professionals. Some images were culled from my collection and others were newly photographed. Selected images portray the ten basic learning standards for early childhood. Calendar costs $12 and will be available for purchase after September 20, 2006 at the NAEYC online store. To purchase, go to: http://sales.naeyc.org/default.aspx - click search button - under "search by stock number", type in #7111 (OR #7111S for Spanish version).

+ Surprise - Image Archive collection is really growing
I was able to photograph so much this spring because my trusty assistant, Will, was back at the office slogging through the archive process. Because of his efforts, 2550 new digital images and 1350 film scans have been added to my Image Archives in the last 8 months. By October 1 all of my archives, including film scans, (totalling just over 10,000 images) should be available online at ellensenisi.com and searchable by keyword. Check back soon!

Book News - March 2006

+ Shapes Where We Play (emergent reader for Bebop Books; September, 2006)

+A 3-D Birthday Party (photographs and text assigned for curriculum book in Rookie Read About Math series for Scholastic; September, 2006)

Recent Photo Shoots

+ I gathered a lot of new material in an urban, ethnically-mixed daycare center, working in both infant and toddler classrooms. These are currently being archived.

+ What's it like in kindergarten - in America and in China?
It was fascinating looking for the differences and similarities between American and Chinese kindergartens last year. I gathered an enormous number of images that are still in the process of being archived. Some may be used in a children's book and others will be available as stock.

+ Backstage at the Apollo
This was the most-fun photo shoot of 2005 for me. At the end of of December, I photographed at the last Amateur Night of 2005 in the Apollo theater that featured all the best acts of the year on stage. Following one of those acts (the Hamilton Hill Steel Drummers) through the experience was fast-paced and exciting, yet posed unique challenges (such as no flash allowed). Photographs and a text documenting the kids' experiences growing up as musicians and then fulfilling a dream appearing on stage at the Apollo have been put together into a book project, done in collaboration with writer Trish Marx. It will be published as a book for children aged 8 - 12 by Lee & Low Books in September 2007.

Website Updates

+ February 2007
Image Archives is complete and ready to search!

+ March 2006
The ellensenisi.com update is still in progress. Soon to come are Ellen's full image archives searchable by keyword.

There will also be optional music to hear while you're browsing the gallery, assignment photos, and stock photos.

If you have any comments on what you see right now, please let me know.

+ September 2006
Image Archives are coming soon, still in progress.