DANBURY, CONN. — It is the child without a home. It is the child without enough food and water. It is the child without the guidance and nurturing of two loving parents. These are the images that inspire the art work of Western Connecticut State University students Adam Schwarz and Bryn Gillette.

From Saturday, Aug. 30, through Tuesday, Sept. 9, their work will be on display as “Inspired Images,” an exhibit of photos taken by Schwarz, a political science major, and paintings by Gillette, a fine arts graduate student. On Sept. 3, they will hold a reception with refreshments from 4 to 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The public is invited to the art show and reception at no charge.

Schwarz, who traveled to Ghana in March as part of the university’s Humanitarian Travel Club, said he shot 20 rolls of film during the 10-day trip. He chose 18 black-and-white photos for the art show.

“They’re the strongest images. They’re very personal portraits of the children,” said Schwarz, a 23-year-old German and Swiss national who lives in Norwalk. He prefers using a medium format camera to digital and prefers black and white over color. “I like people to focus on the content, rather than the color.”

Gillette, who is working on his master of fine arts degree in painting, traveled to Haiti twice this year. He visited two homes for orphaned children and captured the essence of the children and the coastal villages in his work. He hopes that people see the beauty beneath the chaos in his colorful paintings of Haiti.

“If I could say it in words, I wouldn’t have painted it,” Gillette said. “These people have so much dignity and beauty right in the midst of economic and political chaos and social upheaval. They are truly in a precarious economic situation and have incredible daily needs.”

Gillette said before the children come into the homes, they are living in boxes and suffering from malnutrition, staph infections and malaria. Yet within months of getting help, they go to school, do chores and homework, play and take care of each other.

Schwarz, too, was moved by the dozens of children, who ranged in age from 3 months to 18 years, he met at the Ghana orphanage. Most of them orphaned, some abandoned by indigent parents, the children, said Schwarz, were genuine and curious and the camera brought those qualities even more to the surface.

“If you point a camera here, people smile. The children there have more of a sincerity, an honesty,” he said. Schwarz said in order to make up for the many things they lack, the children are very inventive.

“Though the children are in a sheltered place, they still face great obstacles from inadequate food and water access to lack of secondary school tuition and school supplies,” said Schwarz. “The children themselves are the sweetest and nicest children I have ever met. They’re incredibly inquisitive and many of them have exceptional talents like drawing and drumming. They have this innate sense of sharing, from the water bottles we gave them, to the toys we brought with us.”

Not knowing what to expect when he traveled thousands of miles away from home, Schwarz said he is grateful that WestConn Adjunct Professor of Social Sciences Jeanne Hatcherson, founder of the travel club, asked him to bring his camera along. “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have taken my camera,” Schwarz said. “She specifically asked me to document the trip.”

The reception for “Inspired Images: WestConn students give back through their art” will be Wednesday, Sept. 3, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. It is open to the public free of charge. The exhibit will be Saturday, Aug. 30, through Friday, Sept.5, and Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 8 and 9, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The show will be closed Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 and 7 — with viewing by appointment only. For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.