Eyes that see, hands that help

Earlier this month New Zealand took a direct hit from Cyclone Gabrielle. She ravaged parts of our North Island, Australia and Vanuatu. Homes, livelihoods and lives have been lost.

The open wounds of our land are gaping with years of recovery ahead predicted. The physical and emotional trauma on our people is high, it is also the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere, with damages estimated to be at least NZ$13 billion.

Watching news story after news story and feeling utterly helpless I decided at 10.30pm on Thursday night that I would do what I could in a way I was able. I brought my eyes that see to the hands that help.

Photographs are some of the most powerful visual tools available to humankind. They can incite love, compassion, memory and knowledge. What projects would you love to give back with your art? List here some ideas and ways you could use your photography for good. It could be gifting a session to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford it or maybe starting a project which could help the community you live in.

For the Love of the Photograph Creative Journal, p146-147

For every session we asked those in it to write their names on a sunflower. Sending a heart of hope to those in the North xx

My idea was to offer ten minute family sessions which included three high resolution images. The venue was to be the sunlit garden of Feliz & Sage and ArtSpace. The last time I did mini-sessions was in 2013, it was chaos and I’ll be honest - I swore never again. That was ten years ago and I’m an incredibly different photographer now, and anyway, the important part was to raise money to help the Cyclone Relief so there was no room or requirement for ego or award winning art. It was an exercise in connection, heart and support of our fellow human beings.

It was WONDERFUL.

We had three sessions on the first day and twelve on day two. We raised $1098 which felt like such a win. These funds are now in the capable hands of Red Cross New Zealand and the gorgeous images are awaiting editing on my computer, ok so I’ve maybe already dipped in and done a few.

The brilliant Happy Moose joined us by offering their circle decals at a one-off hugely reduced price so we could raise a little extra and gift a keepsake and memory to each family of their right now.

Here are a couple of the moments captured… it's also given birth to a new business idea too… watch this space.

As creatives we often agonise over whether an idea will work out or not, but sometimes we have to GET TO WORK and allow the universe to help out us along the way.

Thank you to everyone who joined me at Feliz and Sage over the weekend. It was a beautiful community moment.

Shine bright,

CW x