Portrait Project: Detroit

* Adjust volume for audio.

Sunday evenings usually find me on the couch with my laptop reading through blogs and searching news sites. One such Sunday in early December I stumbled upon an article in the New York Times site about photographer Dayna Camp, who started a portrait project photographing homeless families, then presenting them with a framed family portrait. I thought this would be a great idea; to share what I’m most passionate about, in hopes it might uplift a family’s holiday. The idea really inspired me and I started to organize a list of homeless shelters to contact throughout Detroit.

Two days later I received an email from my friend Ryan Hertz, Executive Director for H.O.P.E. Hospitality & Warming Center in Pontiac, MI. I was in awe after reading his email. Ryan was looking for a photographer to help with a portrait project his friend, Jack Harrington, was interested in completing before Christmas. Apparently, the same article inspired Jack too. What are the chances, right?

We had a week to organize the photo shoot. Thankfully, Jack already had a contact at The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries and we were able to find seven families willing to participate, all of them young single moms with one to two children each. We met at the DRMM’s dining room to introduce ourselves. The children’s curiosity about my setup in the dining room got the photo shoot underway immediately, as they were eager to start posing in front of my seamless backdrop and I didn’t want to miss out on any impromptu shots.

All in all it was a fun shoot. I particularly enjoyed photographing the children. They kept me on my toes as they spun around, striking poses… totally uninhibited and absolutely natural, as to be expected only with children. Bursts of laughter coming from the seated moms behind me fueled the children while posing; surprised by the audacious nature of their children while in front of the lens, as if they had never seen them have so much fun. Instantly a thought came to my mind what a typical day must be like for them.

A week later, Jack, Ryan and I met with the families to present them their framed portraits along with gifts for each child. Most of the gifts were donated by the organization Toys for Tots and a few were bought by Jack.  Unfortunately, for some reason, we were only able to meet with two of the families. Nevertheless, both moms were pleasantly surprised and it was fun to see the children tear apart the wrapping paper to see what Santa brought them. One mom made the comment, “This really made my Christmas” and continued to thank us. After hearing her say that, I thought to myself, “Thank you.”

Thanks to Jack Harrington, Ryan Hertz, The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries and the families who helped make this project happen.