In middle school, my grandparents gave me their old Nikon Coolpix. It was a dull, silver pod-shaped camera with a concealed lens that could flip out of its hiding space whenever you needed to snap a photo. I kid you not, I’m pretty sure I took a photo of every item in my grandparent’s house when I got this camera. I was hooked. Depth of field fascinated me, the way you could alter perception was exciting to me, and the fact that a real-life moment can be captured and held in the form of a photo sold me completely. I fell in love with photography.
But why? Why did capturing imagery through photo and video become such essential parts of my life? When it comes down to it, it’s a way for me to connect with people. Looking back at middle-school-me, I was extremely shy. I wanted to interact with people, but didn’t know how. Things changed when I got behind the camera; I became “the camera girl”. People at events would come up to me asking if I would take their photo and I had the freedom to approach people I didn’t know under the excuse of photography.
Photography gave me a role and I loved that, but then I discovered The Halle Project, a media company that creates photo and video for churches and Christian organizations. I loved watching their dreamy videos of coffee shops run by churches, organizations combatting sex trafficking, and missionaries reaching out to tribal groups. I saw the work they were doing and realized just how much you can do with a camera. How much further a word can spread when there is imagery attached. Just as a camera had blessed me with a way to interact with people, I wanted to find a way to bless others with my camera. I went to college to study photography with that idea of using it to spread goodness and love in mind.
While in school, I got to explore what that looked like. I did a series photographing maids in Prague, which allowed me to connect with women who had an extremely different culture from my own and who almost exclusively spoke Czech. I loved getting to communicate with them despite our language barrier by taking their photos. I got to learn about other religions through my series photographing the many different religious groups represented in Philadelphia. I was welcomed into groups I knew very little about and got the opportunity to observe rituals I had only read about in books.
While it was very enriching to gain experiences like these and connect with people through these projects, the one that showed me the core of why I take photos was a project photographing in a soup kitchen for the homeless communities in Philadelphia. I would volunteer at the soup kitchen regularly, but I hadn’t been brave enough to sit down and talk with our guests. This project was my chance – I would sit down with guests when I wasn’t volunteering and just hear about their lives. I watched in awe as Stewart talked about his stone-encrusted hat he made himself and wore every day. I listened to Deborah state her claim that she was the first African American woman in Philly to get a nose piercing back in the 80’s. I sat with Felix as he explained that he could only see his kids if he visited Philadelphia, but he didn’t have enough money to pay for his food while visiting. I loved digging deep into these peoples’ lives who I had seen and served, but never knew.
I made a point to deliver images I took to the people I photographed, and one day I gave spunky Deborah an image of herself, and she had tears in her eyes. I asked Deborah what was wrong, and she explained that this was the only photo she had of herself… That is why I take photos. That is what motivates me to create images of people who are overlooked, unrepresented and looked down upon. Yes, I want to teach people about those who are different from them and I want to create stunning, impactful imagery, but the biggest thing I can do with a photo is bless somebody the way teary-eyed Deborah was blessed.
In fact, creating media and storytelling have been huge motivators for me to go on the World Race. I want to use my skills to bless these people and tell their stories. I have seen the ways a camera can break down language and cultural barriers, and I’m ready to put that into action while serving in these eleven countries. I’m hoping to get a mobile printer so I can print images while abroad and gift them to the people I photograph. I want to use my video skills to capture what life looks like in the communities we’ll be doing life with. I want people in the States to see what I create while abroad and feel compassion for these people. I want this work to encourage global prayers, motivate kingdom-spreaders, and grow the hearts of people who are blind to all God is doing around the world.
grace + peace
If you want to empower me to create this project (and get me one step closer to an HP Sprocket Photo Printer!) – please feel free to support me by praying for me, subscribing to this blog and by donating! Just click the orange donate button at the top of this page or check out my store.
Deborah
