On June 9, I’ll have the opportunity to speak at the Jackson Photo Club about a journey that started more than two decades ago with a personal connection to heart disease — and eventually grew into 16 years of environmental portrait work with the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women initiative.
What originally began as a way to become more involved in my community after moving to Houston became one of the most meaningful creative experiences of my career.
My connection to the American Heart Association began in 2000, just a few years after my mom’s emergency triple-bypass surgery. After a 20-year battle with heart disease, she passed away in 2016. That personal connection gave deeper meaning to every campaign, every portrait, and every person I photographed along the way.
Over the years, I photographed environmental portrait campaigns for Go Red For Women — first in Houston for 10 years and now in Memphis since 2020. The portraits were created to help draw attention to the campaign, elevate community leaders, support fundraising efforts, and encourage people to learn more about women’s heart health.
To date, the campaigns have helped raise more than $7 million in support of education, research, advocacy, and women’s heart health initiatives.
During the presentation, I’ll be sharing the creative process behind the work, the role environmental portraits can play in building awareness and community engagement, and the human side behind the images.
PHOTOGRAPHY, PURPOSE AND THE POWER OF CONNECTION
Leading Community Impact with Environmental Portraits
📍 The Old Country Store
56 Casey Jones Ln A.
Jackson, TN
📅 Tuesday, June 9
⏰ 6:30 PM
The public is invited to attend.
Grateful for the invitation from Jackson Photo Club and President Darrin Devault. Looking forward to sharing both the creative process and the human side behind the work.
Learn more Jackson Photo Club Group Site