You have to admire Lisa Helfert. This freelance photographer took time out of her busy schedule -- shooting portraits, wedding and sporting events -- to teach two mentally challenged men the art of taking photographs. It became a labor of love.

"I am so proud because they are my students. I like seeing other people succeed. It is more than 'wow, how great I am,' Helfert explains.

Every Thursday from March to August last year, the artist worked with Jerry Dillion and Tyler Cunningham at Red Wiggler Community Farm in Clarksburg. That's where the men -- along with other developmentally disabled individuals -- farm some 124 acres of land. Their produce is sold to members of the produce cooperative and at a farmer's market at Leisure World.

Now, many months later, all three photographers' work is on view in the exhibit, "Farmworks," through May 31 at BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown.

Helfert is "positive" no one will be able to tell which photos each artist snapped. Even with 10 years of professional experience and a photography degree from the University of Maryland, she believes "we are all equal."

After Helfert taught the men to load a point and shoot camera, off they went to take photographs around the farm. The artist admits she had her own ideas about how and what they should photograph -- but then so did the two men. Dillion liked to take his photos with the camera at an angle, and Helfert tried unsuccessfully to change this habit. But once the first photos were developed, she came to realize the images were more interesting this way.

From the start, Helfert knew that Dillion "is a people person and takes photos of people. He puts you at ease."

But he also liked photographing the fruits and vegetables produced on the farm.

Tyler Cunningham took Helfert by surprise. While she believes he initially took up photography because he liked doing anything his good friend Dillion did, Cunningham had his own clear vision.

"Tyler liked photographing machines and cars, and not people," Helfert recalls.

She hoped he would photograph the people and activities at the farm, saying "I don't see cars as interesting."

But before long, she realized that Cunningham would placate her with one quick photo of the farm life, then go directly to the machines.

For months he photographed every Red Wiggler Farm employee's car hood, remembering who owns which car.

In the end, Cunningham "was able to make machines interesting to other people," Helfert concludes.

None of this could have happened without an arts inclusion grant offered by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, explains Malka Fenyvesi, Red Wiggler Farm's Assistant Director. "We were able to buy a camera, pay for film developing and staff time and give Lisa [Helfert] a small stipend."

The exhibit was an added bonus. BlackRock's General Manager Marilyn Balcombe believes the collaboration between the farm and the arts center is a "perfect partnership. We try to provide space for professional artists ... and partner with the community in a meaningful way."

For upcounty residents, she adds, this show is particularly significant because "we value our green space. This building sits on farmland."

Like most volunteers, Helfert knows this experience has enhanced her life and has helped make her a better photographer.

"There was always a distance between me and the people I photographed," she notes. "Now I relate differently to the subject. I don't have to be anything. I am not an outsider."

"Farmworks" is on view weekdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and weekends by appointment through Saturday, May 31, in BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Towns Common Drive, Germantown. Admission is free. Call 301-528-2260.