Photo gallery tries to link needy children with adoptive parents

OLD CHATHAM -- Sonata pins her ears. The boy in the white shirt with the white-hot energy is getting a little too close for the 5-year-old mare's comfort.

His face is right in hers, and he's saying: "I like you. I like you. Can we be friends? Can we be friends?"

Sonata backs away, and the boy says: "I know it's hard to be in a cage."

Sonata is in her stall at Little Brook Farm in Old Chatham, and the boy is visiting from his group home in South Troy. His name is Mercedes, and he and three other children in foster care visited the farm Saturday and posed for pictures with a celebrity photographer.

Their visit and the photo session coincide with the opening Tuesday of an exhibit at the Rensselaer Rail Station of the Heart Gallery of New York. On display until Jan. 15 will be photos of children in the state who are living in foster care and available for adoption.

For more see Albany Times Union article by TOM KEYSER, Staff writer