Photos Of Extraordinary People
Being a photographer and artist, I look to many different areas for inspiration. This morning, my Google Desktop Sidebar RSS Widget popped up with a little note that someone, somewhere in the world had written a blog post related to photography. I clicked the link and it brought me over to a post about Finding Grace (not the TV Show) by David’s Digital ProTalk.
It turns out that Multi-Gazillionaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACS, Lynn Blodgett, has produced one of the best photography books of 2007 (according to PopPhoto.Com). Not of landscapes or children or models - but of homeless people.
Finding Grace - The Face Of America’s Homeless is a book of 140 images of homeless people and families throughout America. In David’s words …
Don’t get the wrong idea here, this isn’t rich man photographs poor people to get famous. Lynn has had a love of phtotgraphy and considers himself an amateur photographer since he was a kid. At a recent workshop in which he participated, he produced some really compelling images according to Andrew Eccles, the course instructor.
Encouraged by this experience, Lynn began his journey. He would get out of his car in areas of towns where homeless people gather for shelter and protection, set up a white seamless background and begin photographing anyone who would stand in front of the camera. The images are a peek into a part of the world most of us would shun and try to ignore. But the result is that Lynn found the humanness in these people and his portraits truly reflect it.
Lynn’s efforts have resulted in the founding of Finding Grace Homeless Initiative which is an emerging coalition of individuals and organizations aiming to increase awareness and raise money for homeless organizations.
After my recent trip to San Francisco and the encounters that I had with the homeless there, I think that the Finding Grace Homeless Initiative is something that everyone should try to take part in - whether you are a gazillionaire or not - as that could be one of us someday, down and out on our luck, looking for someone to provide a helping hand!
To check out some of the pages from the book, be sure to check out the website!
