Photographers Ron Rakis and Jay Brandinger prepare to take a portrait of one of the participants in the 2012 Princeton Help-Portrait event. The names of the program’s participants are kept anonymous.
Princeton photographers give back to the community through Help-Portrait
By Michele Alperin
As advertisers are nurturing visions of “the perfect gift” for the upcoming holiday season, a group of local photographers are joining together to create a surprisingly meaningful gift for struggling individuals and families — a framed 5 x 7” photo and four wallets.
This project is through Help-Portrait, an international program that describes itself as “a community of photographers coming together across the world to use their photography skills to give back to their local community.”
On Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Princeton Photo Workshop in cooperation with the Princeton Photography Club and the Princeton Senior Resource Center will host Princeton Help-Portrait 2013 at the Suzanne Patterson Senior Resource Center at 45 Stockton Street.
Alan Kesselhaut, who with his wife, Barbara Cuneo, is co-owner of Princeton Photo Workshop, heard about Help-Portrait as a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. After listening to a conversation by its originator, West Coast photographer Jeremy Cowart, on the organization’s website, he thought it would be a good idea to start a Princeton chapter.
“Alan is very involved in photography and, knowing other photographers, it’s nice to be able to use this skill you have to give back to the community — to specifically bring your skills to bear on making people’s lives that little bit better is very rewarding,” Cuneo said.
Help-Portrait events, run by chapters in 62 countries at over 2,100 locations, occur internationally generally on the same day. At the Princeton event, not only photographers but also students from the cosmetology school at Raritan Valley Community College donate their time.
“Women can come in and have their hair and cosmetics done for the portraits — to make people who really work very hard and really struggle feel really good about themselves and their families for the day,” Cuneo said. “Photographs have a pretty amazing power on self-image; this really makes people feel beautiful and feel valued.”
Cuneo recalled in particular a woman from last year’s event who had been a victim of incredible abuse, especially as a child.
The photographer was able to capture her very long hair in a pose that was “so beautiful and dramatic,” Cuneo said. “She was showing it to everybody and she said something like, ‘This is how I see myself inside, and this means so much to me to be able to see this on the outside, to be able to look at this picture.’”
The way the event works, Kesselhaut said, is that people are greeted at the door, and each family group is assigned an “usher.” People have the option of getting their hair and makeup done by the cosmetology students; then they go to one of four photography studios set up with professional lighting.
Fifteen photographers, mostly professionals, are there to take portraits; they then put the photos into the computer, and the people get to select the pose they like best. “We retouch the image, print the image, frame the image, and then present it to them,” Kesselhaut said. “They get a 5 x 7 inch framed photo and 4 wallet-sized photos.”
Refreshments are available at the event, and Princeton Photography Club is sponsoring a toy drive so that children will have something to do while their portraits are being printed, and then will take home the game or toy as a gift.
Maureen Quinn of Princeton, director of Science Mentors, a one-to-one tutoring program for students at Trenton Central High School, has been the real go getter for finding people who would appreciate the gift of a portrait.
Having learned from last year’s event that people’s biggest challenge in keeping their appointments was transportation, Quinn has honed in on finding people who would both appreciate the gift and also have access to the transportation they need to get there.
Quinn looked largely to three organizations for help. The first is Princeton Community Village, where a young woman who works in the office at Holly House is a graduate of Quinn’s science mentors program.
“They are offering the opportunity to all of the people in the townhouses,” Quinn said.
The second is Christina Seix Academy, a co-educational, extended day, year round school in Trenton for children in economic need from pre-K to 8.
“It is a school that wants to serve single mothers or single fathers who have children and are economically challenged,” Quinn said. “They have transportation and can support kids and families.”
Finally, Quinn draws from all the young people she works with.
“All of my teenagers in my mentor program are invited to bring their families and get their picture taken; last year the students loved it,” she said.
“We approach the groups most in need and don’t restrict any people in that group for any reason,” Quinn said. “Whoever said yes is welcome, and we will get all kinds of flavors of families that come.” And returnees from previous years are fine.
The photo shoot is free to the participants. Supporting the project are the Bank of Princeton, McCaffrey’s, Unique Photo, and some individual donors as well as the free time donated by cosmetology students and photographers.
Kesselhaut studied graphic arts in college. Always involved with photography, he got particularly interested in digital photography six or seven years ago. The couple started Princeton Photo Works earlier this year and already have five instructors and a range of classes.
“We are trying to serve the community of lots and lots of people who really love photography and are at different skill levels,” Cuneo said. Their classes include basic skills in using software and equipment like Lightroom and digital cameras; photography walks and visits to places like Enoterra, the ruin of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, and Grand Central Station; and different types of photography like how best to shoot wildlife, pets, travel scenes, and human figures.
Quinn has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and a master’s degree in religious studies from Fordham University in New York. Early in her career she worked as a consultant to corporations for the growth and development of their entry level and middle management personnel. She moved to New Jersey, where she worked for 15 years as director of a one-to-one mentoring program.
In 2008 she started Science Mentors, which works with senior high school students, a group that people tend to ignore. “Through all these activities and science projects, they get skills to transcend their obstacles rather than miring themselves in the obstacles.”
The organization also tries to get internships for the students it works with. For example, one young woman recalls watching chemistry demonstrations on the Discovery Channel as a child and saying, “Mommy, I want to do that.” Science Mentors helped her apply and then practice the interviewing skills that got her into Project Seed at Rider University, which “provides a $2,500 fellowship to economically disadvantaged high school juniors or seniors, who exhibit high achievement and passion for science, to participate in summer research at an academic laboratory.” The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed also accepts interns to work with children in its environmental science day camp.
Last year, Princeton Help-Portrait volunteers took 65 family portraits that included more than 160 guests, and the opportunity to do so can be powerful in many ways, Cuneo said. “It is also chance for people to get together with their families,” she said. “Last y ear, in some families, four generations walked in with the same color.”
The occasion is festive. “It’s almost like when you have a wedding,” Quinn said. “They can look at the pictures that were taken and choose the one they like best.”
For information on registering, which is necessary to participate, contact Princeton Photo Workshop, pdpw100@gmail.com, or 609-921-3519.
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