I love photographing people. I love being able to meet new people, see their lovely families, laugh and play with little kids, see a bride all dressed up on her special day, be amazed when I see a newborn baby all curled up in front of me…and it brings me joy to capture it all in my camera so that a family or a couple can have those special memories that will last them a lifetime.
Thanksgiving will be upon us soon and this Thanksgiving, I decided to use my photography skills to give back to the community in my own little way. Here is what I plan to do – I want to photograph someone who has never dreamed of having their portraits made. It could be:
- a child (or kids) without a family
- kids at a children’s hospital
- single moms who can’t afford to take a family portrait
- a poor couple who can’t afford an engagement session
- people with terminally ill family members
- a poor elderly couple
- someone homeless
I will photograph this person (or people) for free and give them a set of high quality prints in an album that they can keep.
In addition, depending on who gets photographed, I will also involve local make up artists, hair dressers, clothing stores, etc to try and pitch in and provide their products or services for free for the shoot. So we will have the local community getting together to help someone from their community get photographs that they could otherwise never afford.
The only caveat is that the people being photographed should reside in Michigan or NYC/NJ area.
Why am I doing this? Because a photograph is timeless and it can bring happiness to someone. Imagine a single mom getting all made up for a day for a photo shoot with her kids. Or an elderly couple that can have a memento to pass on to their grandkids to remember them by. Or a terminally ill person who can live on through these pictures and bring solace to his or her family.
This is not about me or my photography. This is not about building my portfolio or about fancy lighting. It is about giving pictures, not taking them. It is about laughing and connecting with someone and serving for the pure sake of serving. It is about helping people see the beauty within and to help them appreciate what they have, even if they don’t have much at all.
But I can’t do all this without your help. Rather than pick people at random myself, I thought it would be nice to photograph people I get to know indirectly through my network of friends and family. I need you to nominate someone that you know. It could be someone you work with, it could be your neighbor or someone you go to church with. If you know someone that fits the bill, then please use the comments section below to contact me and tell me about them – who they are, how you know them and why I should photograph that person. If you don’t know anyone, then pass this on to someone that might know someone. I will read every comment and pick 2 entries that I connect with the most and co-ordinate with you to take their pictures a few weeks before Thanksgiving so that I can give them their free prints right around Thanksgiving.
Please help me spread the word by passing on this post to your family, friends and colleagues and requesting them to pass it on to others that they might know. You can copy and paste this link in an email to others or even make it your Facebook status or Twitter update for 24 hours:
http://wp.me/pkl1C-n6
Lastly, if you are reading this and you don’t know who I am, please visit my website to learn a little about myself and to see the kind of pictures we can help create for people in need:
I hope to hear from you and with your help, I hope to connect with someone special this Thanksgiving.
Suman
My sister’s kids would be a wonderful recipient of the Thanksgiving project! She’s a single mom with three kids, ages 9, 7 and 2. The youngest has only had photos professionally taken once (if WalMart counts), when he was about three months old. She has never had pictures of all three kids together. I try to help them as much as I can… I’ve sent the two older girls to summer camp and try to give them a little extra around the holidays, but something like this would be really great for them. The kids are really beautiful subjects and I don’t just say that because I’m a proud aunt.
I heard about you through Leslie Brown. Thanks for doing this. Whether you choose my sister’s kids or not, it’s a wonderful thing to do.
Thanks for your consideration!
Kelly
Hi,
A friend of mine passed this on to me. This is awesome! I work in an adult housing center and there is a really cute old couple that I think would be perfect for this. They have been married for over 40 years and are a cute old couple.
They have kids and grand kids visiting them, so this would be perfect for them to share with the family.
Thanks!
Susan