Women, Cameras and the Gift of Photos

Eight women photographers showed up at Project Somos with cameras in hand.

Lead by Photographer and Photography Instructor, Kellie Bieser, who volunteered her time that week, we embarked on a very inspiring, exciting and emotional week.

Each participant donated a Sony point and shoot camera to the Project. From there, the magic began.

We had short and simple classes in photography for our kids, their mamas and some of our staff. Mamas and kids embarked on photography exercises and activities. We shared photos at various gatherings. We talked about the meaning of photography and had the mamas seek to find the essence of each of their children in a photo they went out and took with this in mind.

One of our staff members lost her mama in a fatal accident two and a half years ago. She had one photograph of her mom. She had one more digital photo of her mom on her cell phone. With the generous donation of the Bieser family, we hooked up the phone and managed to print colour copies of that last precious photo of this woman’s mama. The tears flowed for all.

In this age of digital cameras within every cellphone, it is easy for us to forget the value of a photo. It is easy for us to forget that many many people don’t have this luxury. When the families arrive at Project Somos, they come with all of their belongings. An obvious thing missing from their things are photographs. I have taken thousands of photos of the mamas and kids. Every Christmas I print hundreds of them and load them in an album for the families. These are often their ONLY photos they have of their precious children.

And now, our mamas can take and print photos too! This is a very empowering and exciting thing for any mama to be able to do. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each of the eight women that travelled all the way here to Project Somos to teach, take photos and to share together with us here on the “finca”. It was a very memorable week for all!

Heather Alicia

p.s. To see photos taken by the Somos children, search for #SomosKidsPhotography on Instagram!