Photographer Develops Program That Helps Young Patients

With a warm smile and a 35-millimeter camera in hand, volunteer Deanne Shartin is helping children at UCLA Medical Center see hospital life through different eyes.

A professional photographer and UCLA psychology student, Shartin shares her skills with young patients, many of whom are stricken with cancer or other serious illnesses.

The longtime Westwood resident started working with pediatric patients at the hospital last summer after she photographed some cancer patients for a brochure.

“I just feel in love with the kids,” she said. “They loved touching the camera and seeing how it worked.”

Seeing their reaction, Shartin decided to develop a project where children could learn to use the camera and capture their hospital experiences on film. With a donation of film and free processing from Bel Air Camera in Westwood, she returned to the hospital as volunteer and the “Hot Shots” program was born.

Shartin works individually with patients who range in age from 3 to 17. She spends at least 15 hours a week at the hospital. With Shartin’s help, patients take snapshots of doctors, nurses and hospital staff as well as of the hospital itself. Children who are able to leave the hospital sometimes go with Shartin to the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Gardens or Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on the UCLA campus. Once their photos are developed, they are displayed on bulletins boards around the pediatric wing.

“There are no two photos alike,” said the 43-year-old the mother of three. “Every child sees the hospital differently.”

Shartin says that taking photographs can help young patients to feel more in control of their environment and to share what they are feeling.

“When words don’t come easily, this gives them some access,” she said. “It’s a way for children to share their experiences with family and friends after their release.”

Philanthropist Sybil Brand of Beverly Hills received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Pepperdine University’s Seaver College during commencement exercises Dec. 11 in Malibu.

Brand, a longtime supporter of numerous civic and charitable organizations in Southern California, is best recognized for her efforts to improve conditions for female inmates at the Los Angeles jail. Her campaign led to the construction of the Sybil Brand Institute for women in 1960.

The Century City Bar Assn.’s second annual “Eye on the Nation” dinner honored Charles Vogel, past president of the California State Bar.

Vogel, named recently to the state Court of Appeal, was honored at a dinner Dec. 3 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.

Allan Orenstein has been elected chief of the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital medical staff for a two-year term.

A resident of Pacific Palisades, Orenstein specializes in oncology/hematology and is a Diplomate of the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. He received his medical training from the University of Rochester in New York.

The Milken Family Foundation and Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles honored two Westside residents for their exemplary service to the children of Los Angeles’ Jewish Day schools at a luncheon held on Dec. 13 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.

Honorees were Venice resident Manuel Katz, a high school math teacher at Yeshiva University of Los Angeles, and Culver City resident Avishag Wyte, a sixth-grade teacher of Hebrew and Judaica at Temple Emanuel Community Day School in Beverly Hills.