A unique photo gallery opened on Cornell’s campus yesterday. The gallery, titled “Unseenamerica New York State: Pictures of Working Lives Taken by Working Hands”, and features the photographs of dozens of photographers. The project is underwritten by the Workforce Development Institute and funded by the NYS senate. These photographers are normal men and women who work every day in any number of jobs: security guards, mailmen, factory workers, janitors, hospital workers and more. The workers were given twelve weeks of photography lessons by professional photographers and equipment and asked to document their lives. Ester Cohen, the originator of Unseenamerica, explained that the project was intended to “create visions of workers across New York State." Over eight years and with galleries in New York City, Albany, Syracuse, and now Ithaca, and with over 400 people taught over 25 workshops, it’s safe to say that this vision is well on its way. The gallery itself features 60 photos on three by five foot canvasses, each with a title and quotation underneath. WVBR spoke with Thomas Brooks, one of the photographers who was featured in the gallery, and has photos that were shown in all the other galleries as well. A letter carrier from Syracuse, he remodels houses after he’s done delivering mail. Brooks has been taking photos sporadically since the 80s, but after taking the class with his son he has been attended all of the openings. His featured photo is titled “Who He Is." When Brooks was asked what he thought was most important about the courses, he responded “everyone has a perspective," and from the organizers of the gallery to the leaders of unseenamerica to the photographers, the message was clear: everyone has something valuable to say.