BEN SCHEER
Senior, Walt Whitman High School
BEN SCHEER NOTICED two years ago that school pictures failed to capture the essence of his autistic younger brother, Cade. So Ben, who had been taking photography courses at Whitman, decided to aim his own camera at his sibling.
“He came out with gorgeous photos of the Cade that we know and love,” says Eva Scheer, the boys’ mother.
The Bethesda teen’s success with Cade’s photos inspired him to create Photobilities, a photography project-turned-business aimed at children with special needs. “Everyone wants to have a nice photo of their child, and I think everyone deserves it,” says Ben, now 18.
He contacted Listservs for parents with autistic children and offered to take free portraits. Soon he was traveling to families’ homes for photo shoots. Ben liked the project so much that he 
trademarked Photobilities in 2013 and created a website. He began charging a small fee for the photo sessions—his clients now find him through word of mouth—and he’s completed about 20 photo shoots.
“My main idea is to have zero rules—whatever is most enjoyable and comfortable for the family, I am down with it,” Ben says.
Photobilities’ client Linda Orleans of North Bethesda says her autistic daughter, Danielle, 12, warmed up to Ben immediately. And the pictures he took were so beautiful that Orleans gave a framed print to her husband for Father’s Day. “That’s the first one that’s been a good photo,” Orleans says. “Danielle was truly happy in the picture.”
Eva Scheer says Ben has always been kind to his brother and others with special needs. “He’s a patient, nonjudgmental, compassionate kid.
He treats his brother with such respect,” she says. “He never leaves home without saying goodbye to Cade, and he walks in and says, ‘Where’s Cade so I can give him a hug?’ ”
Ben plans to attend Vanderbilt University in Tennessee this fall and to continue running Photobilities during school vacations.
Photos by Michael Ventura
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