Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ceece on November 8, 2009 at 7:13pm

Hey Chuck~ awesome, great idea posting this! did you find the louisville page on help-portrait?

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Permalink Reply by Shane E. on November 15, 2009 at 11:05am

I've always wanted to give free portraits to starving, sick people and now I have that opportunity. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Courtney Ellis on November 15, 2009 at 1:32pm

Wow WTF have I been doing with my life for the past five years Shane? Seriously, I hope you never know the pain our clients know, that of a baby who will never go home with you or a child with cancer . Way to go dude!

Shane E. said:

I've always wanted to give free portraits to starving, sick people and now I have that opportunity. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Ceece on November 15, 2009 at 1:20pm

i get that you feel the need to have a cute, witty comment about everything, but seriously dude, this is just not necessary, or even appropriate.

Shane E. said:

I've always wanted to give free portraits to starving, sick people and now I have that opportunity. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by jes on November 15, 2009 at 11:46pm

pretty cool! im off to check it out now!

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Permalink Reply by Michele Reinach on November 17, 2009 at 8:32am

I would love to do this.

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Permalink Reply by Shane E. on November 19, 2009 at 11:31am

Okay, this is going to take more time to explain than it's worth and you probably still won't understand it the way I see it.

I didn't attack babies that won't go home or children with cancer. Those are separate projects. I have a lot of respect for both. So don't spin my comments to apply to real projects that do good things.

Turn offs for me are phrases like "give back to the community" and generic "people in need". I don't owe anything to the community. If I help someone, it's because I chose to. And broad projects to help generic "people in need" are often abused by people who just want a handout. So it's hard to get excited about it. That isn't to say that people with needs won't get photographed by this project. It will just be luck if it happens. And whether or not it is appreciated is a another issue

My understanding of this project is that it is to provide photographs to people who couldn't otherwise afford it this holiday season. The focus is on photographing people who might not be able to afford it. That isn't kids with cancer, though admittedly it could be, but only by chance. The basic premise is based on current economic standing. And it's one day during the "holiday season". And the truly needy will be mixed with the not-truly needy in getting their free portraits. People don't generally appreciate free stuff. In fact, they just expect more. It's like giving candy to a small child. They just turn around and expect more. Helping generic needy people is more about making the giver feel good or less guilty (or part of marketing).

Photographing people probably won't help their situation if they are 'needy'. That doesn't mean they won't like their pictures. But I wouldn't call it 'helping the needy'. If someone needs a job, giving them something else isn't 'helping' them. It is sustaining them, but not really helping.

Think about this. If you photograph every family at your local Boys & Girls Club this year, then next year, not a single family is going to purchase portraits on their own. They are going to wait for that "free photographer that was here last year". Thank you so much for the free prints! You are such a good person. I'll see you next year! Sandy Puc said something simliar at her Tots & Teens seminar about a promotion she tried. She did free photos as part of some scheme involving marketing and all those involved waited for another free promotion next year and some even called & asked when the next one was. And those were people with lots of money.

There are many projects that recognize specific groups that have real needs. When I think of people in need, I think of people who truly can't help themselves, not people who make poor choices and are broke and are more than will to accept something free. Photographs can't help "people in need". That isn't to say they don't have value and that they don't mean anything. Photographs can be important and have a lot of meaning. They won't feed you, clothe you, make you physically well, give you a place to live, or hire you.

Jeremy Cowart might have walked into a Nashville homeless shelter and given those people their dignity (his words, not mine), but nothing has really changed for them except that they now have charming photos to remember their homeless shelter days. Some people might really appreciate it and love the photographs. But if you gave them a fur coat, some of them would appreciate it and love it, too. In both cases, they will still be in a homeless shelter. Giving photographs isn't meaningless, it just isn't that helpful, in my opinion, and I believe there are others things people can do that really does help people.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep isn't based on some socialist interpretation of the unfair distribution of wealth and it doesn't matter if the client has money or not. It is based on a terrible event and provides something beautiful to people who probably would not be able to bring themselves to hire a photographer. And those pictures will mean something to those people for the rest of their lives. It doesn't help them or make their situation better. It does give them something, though. And it does have meaning.

This, however, is some one-day, feel-good event that asks you not to blog about it or anything else. Just do it. The site mentions Jeremy Cowart on every page, but it's all about giving back to the community, not promotion. Just help some magically needy person and feel warm and creamy.

If you want to hate me for not appreciating this generic feel-good project then go ahead. But don't tie projects that focus on real needs into this, because I do respect and believe in other projects.

If you have the time and you really want to feel like you helped people in need, find someone with real needs, and really help them. Don't take the picture of people with no cash this week and act like you made the world a better place.

All that being said, I don't think this project is necessarily terrible or anything. I just disagree with the notion of photographing people for free as being classified as 'helping the needy'. I'm sure some people would love having their picture taken for free. They'll love it next year, too. And the year after that.

I've been lots of places in my life. When I was a kid, we ate potatoes for weeks at a time. I've been broke, unemployed, and down to one meal a day as an adult. I never pandered for a handout. I got a job. Not a good job, but one that pays. Then I moved to a better job, and a better job. And I worked two jobs for years getting to where I am now. And I expect other people to work, too. 'Poor people' aren't all victims. They aren't a sub-species that we should shed a tear for because they can't afford new pants. Many of them are professional poor people and handouts only make being poor a comfortable lifestyle choice. Lots of people are content to live on welfare, amazing as that seems. Yeah, there are people in tough situations and they will get better. But I don't think photographs are going to 'help' those people. Some might appreciate it. But if I gave free photos to those people, I wouldn't pat myself on the back and say I just saved the world.

The reason I work is so I can pay for stuff. When I want more stuff, I work harder. However, if you and your friends would like to support me in a comfortable lifestyle, I may be willing to stop working. Perhaps, if I poor myself enough, Habitat for Humanity can build me a house and I wouldn't mind some free photographs in my new living room (furnished by Ikea, because Ikea rocks!).

So, really, what I am saying is that this is not NILMDS. It is something cheesy and generic where some successful photographer wants to feel like he is doing something good, assuming it isn't a stealthy self-promotion thing. Just because you are a photographer, doesn't mean you are 'helping' people by giving away your work. You are still a person and capable of providing real help to people, if you choose to. You might be making people happy with free photographs, but people are always happy when they get something for free. So, I think I have a problem with the marketing angle rather than the act. This is more of a project to make people happy rather than helping them.

Court said:

Wow WTF have I been doing with my life for the past five years Shane? Seriously, I hope you never know the pain our clients know, that of a baby who will never go home with you or a child with cancer . Way to go dude!

Shane E. said:

I've always wanted to give free portraits to starving, sick people and now I have that opportunity. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Heeke on November 19, 2009 at 11:28pm

Shane and Scott,

I have to respectfully disagree with you both on this one. I don't believe that anyone thinks they are saving the world with this project, or should they. It's not bringing world peace but it might just be able in some small way to bring some peace to individuals. It's just one small act of kindness reaching out from one human to another. Giving of the way you are gifted in some small way to hopefully help lift someone else's spirit. But I would agree that it all depends on the heart and motivation of the photographers involved but that's neither here nor there to the worth of the project. People can have the wrong motivation in doing anything from feeding the homeless to giving to charity, that doesn't negate the value of the actions. You both talk about "real needs" as if the heart and soul of a person is less real than being hungry. A little hope can go along way, we never know what a small act might mean to a person, it could be the little spark that keeps them going or the encouragement to push through a hard time and not give up. A simple gesture can some times be more nourishing than a bowl of soup. That said, I believe you should not neglect one for the other. Giving to people in this way doesn't preclude them being helped to meet their "real needs" as you put it. At the core though it sounds like a basic ideological difference (of how and what "charity" should look like) and I can respect that but that's not everyone's worldview, no need to tear down others honest heartfelt attempt to reach out to people in some small way in which they are gifted.

The thing I find beautiful about this project is that it's an attempt to get people to open their eyes to different ways we can reach out to others. There is no set "type" of people you have to reach out to. That's for each expression to decide. It most assuredly not to exploit anyone. On a personal level I've seen first hand how something as simple as a family photo can lift the spirits of people going through a hard time...for people who might not want to take a "hand out" in some other form and what that means even generations down the road. So much of what we perceive as inconsequential (and thus never bother to do), like visiting with a neighbor, talking to the outcast, and yes even taking someones picture, has the possibility of rippling out for good in so many ways. In the end this project is whatever the people involved at the various locations make it out to be. Are there people who might take advantage of it, sure there will be. You should be smart about it but I think that it matters little in the big picture if a few people take advantage, who knows, maybe it might even have some positive affect of those people as well.

Participate in this or not, I just hope this discussion motivates us all to "something" for those who are less well off than we are...for whomever and however that might be for you. Not just at the holidays but all year round.

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