Earlier this year I had the privilege of spending a couple days in Washington DC with Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy is a premier photographer whose photos are seen all over the world. We had lunch at a little Thai place near Georgetown and I asked him how things were going. He was about to accept a job traveling with Brittany Spears as the official photographer for her tour, so things were good. But he also wanted something more, he wanted to give back. He had an idea, and it was a good one.
Jeremy talked about the need for everybody to have a good photo of themselves. In the age of social networking, where our pictures are everywhere, a good photo is an advantage. But he also mentioned that not everybody has a camera, or somebody to take their picture, or even a way to get that picture onto a computer. He specifically mentioned single moms looking for jobs, and that of course got my attention.
His idea was to call all his photographer friends and have them set up their equipment on one specific day and take pictures of anybody who needed a good photo. And then give those people their photos for free. Now to be sure, Jeremy knows some very famous photographers, and he said he intended to call them and get them involved. But it wouldn’t just be pro-photographers. He wanted to involve anybody who was good with a camera.
I love hearing these ideas and I get to hear people’s ideas all the time. But usually, the ideas I hear don’t materialize. Half of my ideas don’t either. But I’m glad to hear Jeremy ran with his, and it’s happening. On December 12th, Jeremy, along with his friends, will be setting up their equipment all across the country to take pictures of anybody who needs a good photo. The movement is called Help Portrait. If you are a photographer, or if you work with an agency in which your clients could use a good photo, you can learn more here.
The two main ways Jeremy will be keeping in touch with people are through e-mail and twitter. You can sign up for e-mail updates at the website, and you can follow Help Portrait on Twitter here.
The motto, if you will, for help portrait is Don’t just take pictures, give them. I think this is one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time.
The cool thing about what Jeremy has done is he took his profession, his job, and gave part of it away. When you think about justice issues, you normally think of food and water, medical supplies and so forth. But Jeremy figured out a way to serve the marginalized with photography. And now that he’s doing it, it seems like it should have been obvious all along.
If you are good with a camera, do get involved. Here’s Jeremy explaining more about his idea:
