There is rarely a time when I’m not considering how to document precious moments both personal and for others. As the miles passed by I first considered how I was going to capture this trip – my phone, Polaroids, the behemoth that is my actual camera. These were all options. Secondly, I considered how blessed we are that we have an endless array of means to capture and hold what we regard dearest. I reflected on how the family portrait and snap shot may be one of the most iconic examples of disparity – something so interwoven into our identities from the moment we enter this world (literally) until the day we die. There is truly no level of poverty so great in the United states that someone would not have (or at least at one time have had) a photo of someone or something that they love. They are heirlooms, casual files that take up real estate on our phones, tiny framed masterpieces and huge works of art. They are sometimes quiet moments we keep tucked away and other times magazine ad worthy status symbols we erect. Yet, we don’t even think twice about the fact that there remain places in the world in which no one has ever, nor will ever own a photograph. The fact that we don’t think twice about this is a reminder of the general importance of pulling ourselves out from within, stepping outside of our immediate line of sight to gain a broader world view.

On my trek toward relaxation my mind went, as it often does, to Honduras; where my heart always finds its way. Many of the people in remote areas have never had a photograph of anyone they’ve ever loved and when loved ones pass on, it is only that fuzzy and careless thing we call memory that helps them recall the details. It was then that it occurred to me that I could change this. I could humbly offer this – the act of remembering. I could go. I could capture them and give them themselves, in that moment – now, (because now is all anyone has) for them to hold onto forever.

I had no idea how exactly I was going to bring a photograph to multiple, remote villages in Honduras with no internet, much less, electricity, but come on! In the age of “there’s an app for that” and 3D printers, honestly, I wasn’t too concerned. I mean, if there’s a self scooping cat litter box, there must be a way for me to produce a high quality printed photo instantaneously. Technology did not disappoint. Furthermore, you did not disappoint. Because of your love and support I arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on January 7th 2017. I photographed one hundred families. I hope to go back next year and photograph hundreds more.*

In consideration for writing this piece I was searching for some profundity to share about this trip, about Honduras, the US, about poverty and disparity, and history, but really I feel that there’s nothing new to say on these topics. Though even if it’s not new, I know it’s still relevant. I just felt the best thing it could offer was what came to me as I spoke a couple weeks ago to a group of Girl Scouts about this trip. As I grappled for simplistic, but effective language to express the deeper concepts of disparity and philanthropy to a group of eight year olds, I offered that I was simply doing something that I loved in a way that was helpful and meaningful to others and that everyone “no matter how big or small” (thanks dr. Seuss) has the ability to find something that they love (also no matter how big or small) and offer some piece of that to people around them as an act of love and kindness. This is how we make the world a better place.

It’s also through our own gratitude that we make the world a better place. It is with gratitude that we building and maintain perspective in our lives. It is not that it is impossible (nor should it be) to have negative emotions when we have gratitude, because emotions are not mutually exclusive. However, it becomes more challenging to dwell in a negative space when we’re measuring by what we are grateful for instead of measuring by what is upsetting in our lives.

I mention basic gratitude because I think we too readily jump to pity and to projections of what it means to us to have joy, happiness and success when we’re talking about countries that are, well, not the United States and I’m here to tell you we do not have it figured out and we are not the measuring stick for abundant living simply because we have more and endless choices. Rather, we should cautiously and reverently respond when met with disparity with curiosity about what it means to be happy and healthy and successful to them, not us. Not all frame work is the same.

*A quick word on the serious demeanor of some of the families pictured above. I’ve received comments on how sad, angry, upset or simply unenthused those pictured seem. One consideration I’d like to challenge viewers to take into account is to remember that at the the turn of the century (the 20th century – not the 21st century you spring chickens out there), when photography was relatively new and just gaining steam, families did not smile. The family portrait was a solemn event that required reverence. This was the one chance to immortalize the precious family name. This was not a time for smiles and giggles. This experience was more a kin to sitting in church than a modern casual day on the beach. It was important to me that I not project our current interpretation of what a beautiful family photo means. I wanted them to simply present their most honest selves. So, I didn’t ask for smiles. Nor did I construct a scene that depicted jovial lighthearted families without a care in the world. The result were piercing accounts of fierce pride in mother’s eyes, genuine joy in a father’s embrace, legitimate exhaustion and the vast depth of the arc of the emotional spectrum that is an honest family on their most honest day of living – today, this day, the only day that is guaranteed.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

kristenkiddphotography:

kristenkiddphotography:

I have discussed dire circumstances at hospitals in Honduras in my previous posts. I want to take a moment and reflect on the beautiful people and culture of Honduras. I had the pleasure visiting this wonderful country shortly after a coup and during the Independence Day Celebrations. Nationalism was at high during that time and it was exciting to be a part of celebrations and discussions that involved a nation in transition.

Today is Giving Tuesday . I hope you’ll consider making a donation in someone’s honor as a christmas gift. Please consider this project which is very near and dear to my heart.

For many of you, I personally know what your family portraits mean to you. I have had the joy of providing you with those images and seeing your faces light up and hearing your kind words about how you treasure each moment. Yet, there are so many who will never know that joy.

So many have expressed the depth of gratitude you feel in having a beautiful portrait with a loved one who has recently passed away – capturing the ephemeral. I know that gratitude too, having loved ones pass on, but looking fondly and often at times we shared together. So many will never have this basic gift.

It would be an honor if you will consider helping me provide the gift of one family portrait to isolated and impoverished families in Honduras. Click the link to read more details. Please share this post liberally. Happy Giving Tuesday!

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to digest this, amongst all of the adorable puppies, kittens, babies and inevitable shouting of opinions that I’m sure inundates your newsfeed.

Click on this link to read more about the project and donate with the click of a button. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

In my journey toward making the family portrait project in Honduras come to fruition, many shifts have developed in it’s germination (as with all things that must grow). First, the project has been retitled: Retrato/Portrait. The date of completion is Jan/Feb 2017. Thank goodness for this too, since I have a lot to prepare yet and a long way to go raising funds. Finally, a gallery has expressed interest in displaying the copies of the family portrait images in exhibition.

Today I want to share the Bio, Artist Statement and Description of Work I wrote as a proposal to the gallery. I believe that this shines such a poignant light on what it is I hope to accomplish. I want to share it as well, because as someone who has already donated or someone who may donate in the near future, I believe you deserve the same level of insight as a gallery that would host my work. Of course, having said that; click on this link if you’d like to donate with the click of a button. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

Lastly, I want to give special thanks so my brother, Jacob, who, with tremendous passion, has helped me vet the nuances and language of this project. Also, thanks to my husband, David, who tirelessly listens to my visions and conundrums; patiently offering advice (or not; dependent on what I need at the time).

Without further delay:

Biography
Kristen Kidd is a photographer and advocate living in Lansdale Pennsylvania. A native of rural, southern Virginia, she began photographing her family’s highly cultivated, though miniature, farm at the age of 15 when she picked up her father’s vintage Olympus. The desire to photograph flora and fauna soon gave way to an inclination toward people. Beginning with her early experiences photographing nursing home residents, with whom she volunteered and her mother worked, the desire to capture the dynamics of social complexities grew. Accordingly, Kristen has built a dual career track, on the one hand advocating for individuals with intellectual disabilities while, on the other, developing her photography skills and a rich portfolio of images of people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Her interest in Honduras began on a volunteering expedition with the local nonprofit Mujeres Amigas Miles Apart (MAMA) Project, during which she brought her camera and captured the journey as an amateur while assisting in medical brigades and building a community center. A second trip with the same organization brought her back as a photojournalist on behalf of MAMA. In recent years Kristen has built a business that is established on the principles of embracing equality, diversity and community. These core values ground her projects in an enhanced awareness of the critical issues facing our world and, she hopes, suggest the intentional steps we can take to “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

Artist’s Statement
I am given the distinct pleasure of photographing families, couples, and individuals in their greatest moments of joy. Yet, I am acutely aware that these family portraits – experiences and objects that my day-to-day work positions as basic rites of passage – are an unattainable luxury to a vast percentage of the world.
The vision for this project stems from the deep rooted memory of what it meant to the individuals and families that I photographed in Honduras. To see their faces illuminated on the tiny screen of my camera brought them such joy. They relished the confirmation that their likeness was saved in space and time. They asked for nothing in return. The joy of knowing they were preserved, somewhere, served as elation enough.
These families will never know preserving a memory of their family in a moment in time. When loved ones pass on, they strain to remember faces when we hang portraits, scroll Facebook and flip through albums. I want to consider what happens when we take an object that is intrinsically a part of our society, an icon; such as the family portrait and we place it in an environment in which it is a privilege, typically left only to the elite. I want to wrestle with what it means to the viewer who receives this image of their family juxtaposed to the viewer who receives these images to behold on display in a gallery setting. It is worth considering this because it’s good to give and because it’s good to reflect, with gratitude, on the gamut of what he have, what we take for granted and what is valued sharing in the human experience.
The family portrait, be it casual snap shot, polaroid, disposable camera or an image preserved on archival canvas, captured by the most revered photographer of our time; it is not food, water or shelter, but it is the one possession that most people agree they would consider running back into a burning building to save, once all loved ones made it out safely.

Description of the work
“Retrato/Portrait” will capture what is likely to be the only portrait that these families will ever have in the remote regions of Honduras. Up to 400 families will be photographed on Fuji Film Instax 3.25”x4.4” instant film. One image will be provided to the family and second image will be retained by the photographer. The second image will be brought back, mounted and framed for a gallery exhibition.

I posted this one year ago on Giving Tuesday. My trip to Honduras is coming to fruition. I leave in a little over a month. I’m humbly asking, for what I’m excited to declare will be my final time, for a donation to this cause. You can read all about the project here and at the website where you can also, easily and conveniently, make a donation. Please share this post liberally. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

I hope that as you cherish your own photographic icons of you and your loved ones, you’ll consider helping others have a keep sake to remember their families.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

kristenkiddphotography:

I have discussed dire circumstances at hospitals in Honduras in my previous posts. I want to take a moment and reflect on the beautiful people and culture of Honduras. I had the pleasure visiting this wonderful country shortly after a coup and during the Independence Day Celebrations. Nationalism was at high during that time and it was exciting to be a part of celebrations and discussions that involved a nation in transition.

Today is Giving Tuesday . I hope you’ll consider making a donation in someone’s honor as a christmas gift. Please consider this project which is very near and dear to my heart.

For many of you, I personally know what your family portraits mean to you. I have had the joy of providing you with those images and seeing your faces light up and hearing your kind words about how you treasure each moment. Yet, there are so many who will never know that joy.

So many have expressed the depth of gratitude you feel in having a beautiful portrait with a loved one who has recently passed away – capturing the ephemeral. I know that gratitude too, having loved ones pass on, but looking fondly and often at times we shared together. So many will never have this basic gift.

It would be an honor if you will consider helping me provide the gift of one family portrait to isolated and impoverished families in Honduras. Click the link to read more details. Please share this post liberally. Happy Giving Tuesday!

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to digest this, amongst all of the adorable puppies, kittens, babies and inevitable shouting of opinions that I’m sure inundates your newsfeed.

Click on this link to read more about the project and donate with the click of a button. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

In my journey toward making the family portrait project in Honduras come to fruition, many shifts have developed in it’s germination (as with all things that must grow). First, the project has been retitled: Retrato/Portrait. The date of completion is Jan/Feb 2017. Thank goodness for this too, since I have a lot to prepare yet and a long way to go raising funds. Finally, a gallery has expressed interest in displaying the copies of the family portrait images in exhibition.

Today I want to share the Bio, Artist Statement and Description of Work I wrote as a proposal to the gallery. I believe that this shines such a poignant light on what it is I hope to accomplish. I want to share it as well, because as someone who has already donated or someone who may donate in the near future, I believe you deserve the same level of insight as a gallery that would host my work. Of course, having said that; click on this link if you’d like to donate with the click of a button. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

Lastly, I want to give special thanks so my brother, Jacob, who, with tremendous passion, has helped me vet the nuances and language of this project. Also, thanks to my husband, David, who tirelessly listens to my visions and conundrums; patiently offering advice (or not; dependent on what I need at the time).

Without further delay:

Biography
Kristen Kidd is a photographer and advocate living in Lansdale Pennsylvania. A native of rural, southern Virginia, she began photographing her family’s highly cultivated, though miniature, farm at the age of 15 when she picked up her father’s vintage Olympus. The desire to photograph flora and fauna soon gave way to an inclination toward people. Beginning with her early experiences photographing nursing home residents, with whom she volunteered and her mother worked, the desire to capture the dynamics of social complexities grew. Accordingly, Kristen has built a dual career track, on the one hand advocating for individuals with intellectual disabilities while, on the other, developing her photography skills and a rich portfolio of images of people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Her interest in Honduras began on a volunteering expedition with the local nonprofit Mujeres Amigas Miles Apart (MAMA) Project, during which she brought her camera and captured the journey as an amateur while assisting in medical brigades and building a community center. A second trip with the same organization brought her back as a photojournalist on behalf of MAMA. In recent years Kristen has built a business that is established on the principles of embracing equality, diversity and community. These core values ground her projects in an enhanced awareness of the critical issues facing our world and, she hopes, suggest the intentional steps we can take to “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

Artist’s Statement
I am given the distinct pleasure of photographing families, couples, and individuals in their greatest moments of joy. Yet, I am acutely aware that these family portraits – experiences and objects that my day-to-day work positions as basic rites of passage – are an unattainable luxury to a vast percentage of the world.
The vision for this project stems from the deep rooted memory of what it meant to the individuals and families that I photographed in Honduras. To see their faces illuminated on the tiny screen of my camera brought them such joy. They relished the confirmation that their likeness was saved in space and time. They asked for nothing in return. The joy of knowing they were preserved, somewhere, served as elation enough.
These families will never know preserving a memory of their family in a moment in time. When loved ones pass on, they strain to remember faces when we hang portraits, scroll Facebook and flip through albums. I want to consider what happens when we take an object that is intrinsically a part of our society, an icon; such as the family portrait and we place it in an environment in which it is a privilege, typically left only to the elite. I want to wrestle with what it means to the viewer who receives this image of their family juxtaposed to the viewer who receives these images to behold on display in a gallery setting. It is worth considering this because it’s good to give and because it’s good to reflect, with gratitude, on the gamut of what he have, what we take for granted and what is valued sharing in the human experience.
The family portrait, be it casual snap shot, polaroid, disposable camera or an image preserved on archival canvas, captured by the most revered photographer of our time; it is not food, water or shelter, but it is the one possession that most people agree they would consider running back into a burning building to save, once all loved ones made it out safely.

Description of the work
“Retrato/Portrait” will capture what is likely to be the only portrait that these families will ever have in the remote regions of Honduras. Up to 400 families will be photographed on Fuji Film Instax 3.25”x4.4” instant film. One image will be provided to the family and second image will be retained by the photographer. The second image will be brought back, mounted and framed for a gallery exhibition.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

I have discussed dire circumstances at hospitals in Honduras in my previous posts. I want to take a moment and reflect on the beautiful people and culture of Honduras. I had the pleasure visiting this wonderful country shortly after a coup and during the Independence Day Celebrations. Nationalism was at high during that time and it was exciting to be a part of celebrations and discussions that involved a nation in transition.

Today is Giving Tuesday . I hope you’ll consider making a donation in someone’s honor as a christmas gift. Please consider this project which is very near and dear to my heart.

For many of you, I personally know what your family portraits mean to you. I have had the joy of providing you with those images and seeing your faces light up and hearing your kind words about how you treasure each moment. Yet, there are so many who will never know that joy.

So many have expressed the depth of gratitude you feel in having a beautiful portrait with a loved one who has recently passed away – capturing the ephemeral. I know that gratitude too, having loved ones pass on, but looking fondly and often at times we shared together. So many will never have this basic gift.

It would be an honor if you will consider helping me provide the gift of one family portrait to isolated and impoverished families in Honduras. Click the link to read more details. Please share this post liberally. Happy Giving Tuesday!

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to digest this, amongst all of the adorable puppies, kittens, babies and inevitable shouting of opinions that I’m sure inundates your newsfeed.

Click on this link to read more about the project and donate with the click of a button. https://www.crowdrise.com/photographyforacause/fundraiser/kristenkidd

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.

A few weeks ago I participated in my favorite bridal event; Brides Against Breast Cancer. I don’t generally work bridal expos or shows. It’s not my scene. Most of my wonderful couples comes from word of mouth and by putting my face out there in other, creative ways (Check out some of those beautiful couples here.). However, Brides Against Breast Cancer has a special place in my heart.

I know what you’re thinking, “Is there nothing that is not somehow connected to the breast cancer cause?” and probably, “Sure, but does the cause actually support responsible charities combating breast cancer or is this a vague, ‘Raise awareness about cancer’ sort of thing?”

Brides Against Breast Cancer is a traveling wedding dress boutique experience. Previous brides show up to donate their gowns. They receive a receipt for their tax deductions. The dress is processed and added to the already extensive and gorgeous spectrum of gowns. Brides to be pay $20 to attend a VIP, evening full of munchies and beverages, complete with a DJ, vendors and, of course, first pick of the gowns. Other brides opt for a second day visit to the show for a meager $5, but still have access to all the gowns (that had not found their beautiful bride the previous night).

All of the money goes toward local organizations that directly aid individuals and their families affected by breast cancer. The organizations change from city to city and year to year. Their causes are very worthy. The money from the gown purchases, ticket sales and even vendor participation fee, all go toward the participating charities.

At May’s event I took my camera along so that you can get a feel for the energy and excitement that goes into every event. I chose to shoot abstractly as to prevent the brides from being fully seen in their gowns (unless the brides gave consent to be photographed in her dress).

The charisma is tangible as brides, coupled with the “oohs” and “ahhs” of their friends and family, try on dress after dress. Joy cascades down every seam line and enthusiasm erupts each time a bride arrives at her final selection. It’s an honor to be ushered into the boudoir – into the intimate moment when a bride finds the most important dress she will ever wear and equally so, it is an honor to be a part of such a meaningful event.

The post appeared first on Lux Summit Studio.