Making a Difference in Your Community

For the past few weeks I’ve been scheming up a project that I am SO excited about.  A while back I read a story about a town in Iraq that was under ISIS rule for two years. During those two years, not a single photo was taking in the entire town because the people were not allowed to have phones or cameras.  As a photographer, this made my heart ache.  Don’t get me wrong, my entire body aches over the atrocities being committed in an area of the world full of precious people. But this got me thinking about photos in general and the fact that when refugee families flee their homes, most of the time they leave behind everything.  That means photos too.

Families who arrive here have lost so much, but they are beginning the hard and beautiful work of rebuilding their lives.  And we are going to help them with a small piece of that process.  Over the next couple of months I’m going to be doing family portrait sessions for refugee families in Wichita, KS.  It doesn’t make up for the years of photos they are missing, or for the years of memories they wish they could erase.  But it is one way to document the strength and courage that has brought them to this point in their journey.

Unfortunately, a few years ago I sold all of my studio equipment because I’m a primarily on location shooter.  However, due to issues of transportation and timing, these portraits will need to be done at the resettlement office using studio equipment.  So I bought everything I needed in order to do this.  I also would love to be able to provide each family with some hard copies of their family photo after the session.  All of this costs money.

This is where you come in.  This Mother’s Day weekend (and maybe one other date in June), I’m going to be doing special sessions to help cover the cost of this project.  If you book one of these sessions, all of the money from your session goes towards covering the costs to provide the sessions and printed photos for refugee families.  Get a session, give a session. Does it get any better?

You get two options!

On May 12th, I’ll be booking sessions all day.  You can choose a time in the morning at the Chicken House in Yoder (top photo) or at your own home for a quick lifestyle session sometime in the afternoon (bottom photo).  Prices are only $75 for a chicken house session, or $125 for an in home session.  You can expect 10-20 final images.  These prices are a STEAL, never mind everything you get to provide other families in your community too.

If you’re interested in making a donation towards the project, those won’t get turned down either. 🙂

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Kalene