Wow. We are excited to see this film. Geek out.
Via Grain Edit: Production recently started on The Sign Painter. The new documentary on sign painting will include interviews with several of the artists that still practice this age-old craft. The directors, Sam Macon & Faythe Levine, were recently in San Francisco to capture footage of Jeff Canham, Bob Dewherst, New Bohemia Signs, and Jimmie “the saint” Collier. You can find more info on the film at the website and official Facebook fan page.
Can.Not.Wait.
Inspirational. This is Pete Eckert and he is a blind photographer.
Awe inspiring while extremely scary. Going blind is my worst nightmare.
There have been a lot of things on my heart and mind lately, most pertaining to life and how I live it. My folks were God-fearing people who always taught me to leave things better than how I found them. It’s something I can’t shake. I think about the world and when I finally bow out, and how I’d like to know I bettered it and not stripped it. That just makes sense to me.
I was tweeting back forth with a famous photographer I admire and we were talking about the existence and prevalence of child sex slavery. He made a comment about how could such a terrible thing happen and how could we have gotten here as a people. I told him that the way I see it, such evil has always existed, it just seems that the ones willing to abate it have grown few. Society has become about the I and not the us, so evil runs amuck.
I’m guilty of that. I’ve spent countless hours of energy fighting to one day become the next star photographer. Hoping to be able to stick my camera in the face of celebs and starlets on the regular, as if that’s what the world needs. As if these famous people we idolize need their story told even louder.
Four years ago I sat in a landfill in the Dominican Republic. I had come with a mission team and our journey had brought us to a Haitian village burrowed among the refuse. I’ll never forget watching one of the kids pull a rotting mango from the trash and eat it, and moments later he was all smiles as he banged away on a drum fashioned from an old oil can.
Days like today, I wonder what would happen if someone flying aboard their private jet, browsing their iPad came across my work. And what if when they did they were able to see what I saw that day, would it break their heart too? And if it did, could it possibly move them to action? And what if even just some of the people they influenced were motivated to action as well? And so on and so forth. What if I cared more about telling the story of that kid then capturing the curves of Scarlet Johansson? Is there a way to have both?
Right now, I have more questions than answers. But gratefully, I have more resolve than questions. I will find these answers. I will grapple with how to really make my work count for something. I really don’t see another way.
One of my favorite moments of each wedding day is watching the ring bearer and flower girl tumble (sometimes literally!) down the aisle. Their innocence and joy seem to perfectly encapsulate all the wonderful feelings that compose such a special occasion. Maybe that’s why one of the saddest realities for me is that every minute, two children are robbed of that same innocence and joy as they are sold into sex slavery. And this is not just a reality of the undeveloped world. Even here in the US, over 100,000 children are forcefully engaged into prostitution and pornography.
But there is hope. Hope for a better future, hope for a return of innocence and joy to the lives of countless boys and girls comes at the labor of those diligently working to stop this injustice. LOVE146 is a Connecticut based non profit that specializes in the aftercare and prevention of child sex slavery and exploitation. They are a transparent, global workforce making huge strides with all the resources they can muster. They build and run recovery homes which aid in counseling, loving, and empowering victims of sex slavery as well working with law agencies and creative collaborations to prevent slavery and exploitation in the US and abroad.
It is my absolute privilege, starting February 2011, to partner with LOVE146 in the fight against this crime against children. From here out, 5% of every wedding I shoot will go directly to fund the work of these diligent laborers. And hopefully as my work grows, I will be able to give even more. Please take a moment to watch the video below about LOVE146 and visit their website for even more info on who they are and what they do.
For me, I look forward to watching those little ring bearers and flower girls march down the aisle now, because I know that wedding will have helped some child regain the joy that has been stolen from them.
Thank you in advance for helping get the word out.
