Fotophase
When Light and a Camera Become a Language of Healing, Every Image is a Step Towards Wholeness.
Fotophase
When light and a camera become a language of healing, every image is a step toward wholeness.
“Through photography, we can transform lives.”
James Rice
Mission & Purpose
Fotophase is dedicated to revealing the transformational nature of
photography and the arts, guided by the power of aesthetic
experiences to enhance health and well‐being.
We invite people into supportive spaces designed for belonging,
where each person can slow down, notice, and connect. Through
thoughtful photographic practice, participants discover new stories
about themselves, their environment and their communities.
Photography-Based Neuroarts
Photography-based Neuroarts focuses on the act of making an
image, while including the appreciation of the final photograph. When attention, intention, and emotion converge behind the lens, photography becomes an embodied practice capable of supporting regulation, reflection, and connection.
What We Do
Educational Programs
Develop and deliver educational programs, experiential workshops, and community-based exhibitions that integrate photography with neuroscience and creative wellbeing.
Marilyn Rice Fund
Provide access, mentorship, and creative opportunities for children and youth who have experienced illness or trauma, putting cameras into their hands as instruments of healing and self-expression.
Research Partnerships
Build partnerships with educators, researchers, and healing professionals to explore how photography influences cognition, emotion, and perception.
Neuroarts Advocacy
Advocate for the recognition of photography as a vital, evidence-informed art form within the broader field of neuroarts.
The Marilyn Rice Fund
Founding Director James (Jim) Rice was nine years old when his mother, photographer Marilyn Rice, was killed by gun violence. Before her death she left him two parting gifts: a camera and a globe — symbols of discovery and vision that took decades to reveal their meaning.
Forty years after his mother’s passing, Jim began to rediscover her presence in the light through photography. The act of making images became his path toward healing.
“The Marilyn Rice Fund was created to honor her life and to extend that same light of hope to others.”
Conceived as a legacy initiative within Fotophase, the Fund aims to put cameras into the hands of children and youth impacted by illness or trauma — offering them, as photography once offered Jim, a way to see the world, and themselves, in a new light.
Why Fotophase?
Our organization’s name reflects the term “photophase,” defined as “a phase of light in the cycle of light and dark,” such as the span of time between sunrise and sunset. For those living with trauma, illness, or disconnection, life consists of not only periods of brightness and clarity, but at times darkness. Words and medications aren’t always enough, but aesthetic experiences can be magical.
Photography, which means to “write with light”, is an underrepresented modality in the neuroarts community. That’s why we’ve created Fotophase as a new center for educational programs, experiential workshops, exhibitions, and community events. We want participants to experience a fresh language of healing with light and camera, creating an opportunity for a giant step towards wholeness.
Our Origin Story
Why Fotophase?
Our organization’s name reflects the term “photophase,” defined as “a phase of light in the cycle of light and dark,” such as the span of time between sunrise and sunset. For those living with trauma, illness, or disconnection, life consists of not only periods of brightness and clarity, but at times darkness. Words and medications aren’t always enough, but aesthetic experiences can be magical.
Photography, which means to “write with light”, is an underrepresented modality in the neuroarts community. That’s why we’ve created Fotophase as a new center for educational programs, experiential workshops, exhibitions, and community events. We want participants to experience a fresh language of healing with light and camera, creating an opportunity for a giant step towards wholeness.
Our Origin Story
Why Now?
3,000+
WHO-reviewed studies on arts & health
70%
People experience ≥1 traumatic event
3.9%
Global lifetime PTSD prevalence
67%
US children with ≥1 ACE
Become a Member
Explore membership, sponsor an event, or make a donation.
Your support helps advance photography-backed neuroarts.
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