Community Corner

Portrait Project NH: Giving the Gift of Lasting Memories

Volunteers from around Southern New Hampshire came together at SOPHA in Manchester for an epic family photo shoot.

Cyndi Carnahan found herself a little lost for words during Saturday's Portrait Project NH, as she stood next to her husband, Chris, and two daughters, Jocelyn and Kayleigh.

She thought she was just waiting for her free family photo, courtesy of SOPHA – Studio of Photographic Arts, a photographer's collaborative studio in Manchester.  

While talking about how wonderful it was to finally have a family portrait – it's their family's first – and why they've never had one before, she found herself tearing up.

"Well, for one thing they're normally so expensive. Also, I hate having my photo taken," Carnahan said, taking a deep breath. "My mother hated having her photo taken, too, and –," her words suddenly got stuck on the unexpected emotion of the moment.
 
She said she didn't want to be absent from her family's photographic history, as her own mother was.

"I'm just happy to have this photo with us, all together. I only wish my 24-year-old son could have been here. He's working today, but I wore this necklace that he gave me," she said, gently twisting the silver Open Hearts pendant around her neck. 

Meanwhile, her girls were preoccupied with themselves – enjoying the photo gallery on display on a nearby computer screen, featuring them, in various sisterly poses.

Volunteer photo tech Brian Horne of Pepperell, Mass., was helping them select their favorite poses, which would then get printed on high-quality photo paper with a high-tech printer, donated for the day-long event by Ricoh.  

In the end, the Carnahans would leave with 1 8X10 priceless family photo, two 5X7s and a sheet of wallets, plus a disc with all their proofs, courtesy of a concerted effort by SOPHA's 85 volunteer "guides," photographers and techs, plus several local charities which worked with SOPHA manager Bud Thorpe and fellow photographer Jeff Hastings to make some memories for local families.

This is the third year Thorpe and friends have mounted a free family photo shoot, which this year served 140 family groups of 600 subjects, resulting in 2,400 prints.

"It feels good to be able to do this for families that, for various reasons, have never had a family portrait taken," said Hastings. "Although for many it's financial, there are others who have come here from other countries, who had to leave everything behind, including photographs," Hastings said.

Thorpe, who established SOPHA as an open studio for a growing community of local photographers, said the importance of this volunteer effort hit home to him when sitting down this year with the Boys & Girls Club in Manchester, to talk about identifying some families in need. He was told that many of the kids were unable to produce family photos when asked to bring one in for an afterschool project.

"I was shocked by that," said Thorpe who is, by vocation, a paramedic.

"At the end of the day, I see families that go through some of the worst times of their life, and whether a loved one is lost, or a fire destroys everything they have, the icons of their life are captured in photographs. When I think about the fact that a family could grow up without having a family photo – not by choice, but because they couldn't afford it – that's how I knew this was an important thing to make happen," Thorpe said.

SOPHA, which provides studio space, equipment rental and instruction for its member photographers, was founded with philanthropy as part of its underlying mission, Thorpe said.

"I like to work with local charities, keeping it as local as I can, and reaching out to local families right here, with the help of organizations like New Hampshire Catholic Charities and Boys and Girls Club, has been a great experience," Thorpe said.

Hastings said for many 21st century families, photographs often remain trapped inside cell phones or computers without ever being printed, and are eventually lost to device malfunction, or advancing technology.

Although the families often get emotional over the whole experience, Hastings and Thorpe agree that it's the kind of thing that hits everyone in the heart - especially the volunteers.

"It's so special to participate in this event. I wouldn't miss it," said Tracy Phillips, a photographer from Exeter. "Oh, now you're going to make me cry."

She said she couldn't imagine her life without family photos.

"For them to be able to leave with a beautiful, high-quality profession photograph, matted – and for us to be part of that experience, well, it's really special," Phillips said.

Mallorie Bissonnette was waiting in a big red tent, donated by Manchester Firefighters, with her two kids, Kamden, 5 and Althea, 10, and their dad, Jason Wing. 

"Yes, this is our first photo with all of us together. It's been a really nice experience, and well organized – and they got my daughter to smile, so that's something," Bissonnette said.

Volunteers from around the state spent several hours Sept. 27 and 28 preparing for the event, assisting families through the process – each family had a guide from registration through the reception tent – and then cleaning up and getting things back to normal at SOPHA. Volunteers from Nashua and Hudson included: Anthony Grassetti and Leanna Banana of Nashua; and Scott Smith, Jim Doak and Luis Mata of Hudson.

"When I put out the call that we were going to be doing this, the outpouring was amazing. And so many of our members are working photographers, so they couldn't be here to help because they had weddings to shoot," Thorpe said. "I think it means as much to our volunteers as it does to the families."

Thorpe and Hastings said the hope is to continue growing the project, and finding a way to expand their outreach, beyond Manchester, into other NH communities.

You can learn more here at PortraitProjectNH.

Related Story: Portrait Project NH Volunteers Make it Happen

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SOPHA would like to publicly thank all those who helped make the event a success, including New Hampshire Catholic Charities; Boys & Girls Club of Manchester; British Beer Company, Manchester and Portsmouth;
Puritan Backroom, Manchester; Johnny Troy's Italian Restaurant, Manchester;
Freihofers Bakery outlet, Manchester; Angelas Pasta Shop, Manchester;
Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Londonderry; Central Paper, Manchester;
Bagel Cafe, Manchester and Bedford.


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