"I love photographing children because I am passionate about style,"  Rick told me once. The Positive Exposure presentations he brings everywhere from genetic syndrome support groups to medical schools display photos capturing the uniqueness of children with genetic conditions.  He also mixes in some pictures from his early career as a fashion photographer.  Cindy Crawford's iconic face appears in the same slide show as pictures of kids affected by Sturge-Weber Syndrome, Fragile X, and albinism. What all these portraits have in common is not simply that they are works from the same artist, but that they each accurately portray an individual's fashion, that is, the way they are made. As the Positive Exposure team that traveled to the 2008 Noonan Syndrome Support Group conference in Boca Raton, I  Rick, two medical student interns, Heather and Kathleen, and I encountered the many unique styles of this vibrant community.

The conference organizers, Wanda and Martha, set the tone for the weekend at the opening session. In a church hall with bright inflatable seahorses and fish hanging from the ceiling, families introduced themselves and children began to play without the need for much introduction. Shirts sported the usual conference name tags, but an additional fashion accessory was passed around: brown fedoras, like that of Indiana Jones, were a reminder to approach the conference with the spirit of adventure. This playful reminder that living with Noonan Syndrome is an adventure had an unforeseen benefit: it made for some great pictures. There was an old-fashioned Hollywood glamour that came out in many of the kids, whose inner Cary Grant or Katherine Hepburn responded to a classic hat. No two children wore their hat the same.