It starts with a story that took place last winter. My dad was walking through the village of Vl*sh when he was stopped on the road by an elderly gentleman. The fellow said to my father, "Sir! We know you are the man with the camera!"
[editorial note: my dad is where I learned a love for photography, and this gentleman was right to know that Dad never goes anywhere without his camera]!
He continued, "Can you come to my home and take a photo of my wife? She is dying and I have no photos to remember her by!" (be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to read the rest of dad's story)
I was touched that this man wanted a tangible reminder of his wife, and saddened that he most likely didn't have many, if any, photos of her during happier times in life. It clicked (pardon the pun) that I could easily bring my camera and photograph anyone in the village who would want to have their photo taken. Dad and I decided to plan my trip around Thanksgiving. Given that November weather could be incredibly unpredictable with limited daylight hours, and that we had no idea how many would respond to the offer of a free family portrait, I decided early on to bring my portable studio and set up in the ministry's building centrally located in the heart of the community.
In spite of spreading the word ahead of time about "picture day", the response was a bit slow. Early in the day, the bulk of our 'takers' were the kids who hang around the center playing soccer. Eventually some mothers came with their children, and even a few dads showed up. We shouldn't have been too surprised though because it's just not something that many families do -- go to a professional photographer to have a family portrait made, much less display family photos around the home. Nevertheless, I knew that once they had a photo in hand, it would be received well and treasured because I had visited enough homes and seen my father's photographs prominently displayed (usually the only photographs in the home).
We went to the city and had prints made from the studio session. Upon returning to the village and distributing the first few prints, word spread like wildfire and person after person appeared at the center and were requesting to get their picture. That was even more fun than taking the photos! While I had hoped to get more family photos, I started to fall in love with these photos of the younger generation with their friends. Here are a few of my favorites:
(Above) These girls are so close, they even blink in sync!
(Above) Cousins!
(above and below) Siblings!
Now, to finish my dad's story from last winter... When he reached the elderly gentleman's home, my dad was surprised to find his 'dying' wife was not really on her deathbed, instead, she was hoe-ing a patch of potatoes! I don't know if there was a loss in translation or an exaggeration of circumstances, but regardless, as they say, "the rest is history."
