Jeremy Cowart Announces New Ideas for Help-Portrait 2011

Smiles. Tears. Laughter. Love. Hope. These are just some of the words that immediately come to mind when I think about Help-Portrait 2011, a global movement founded by our own Jeremy Cowart. The concept is simple. Help-Portrait is “a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate.” Here’s how it works: 1. Find someone in need 2. Take their portrait 3. Print their portrait and 4. Deliver their portrait.

The official stats continue to blow me away. “In the last two years, more than 101,000 portraits have been given by 10,000 photographers and 12,000 volunteers. Help-Portrait is now a global movement in more than 1,000 locations in 54 countries.”

Last December creativeLIVE hosted a live stream on the main event day from our Seattle studio. In between participating in our locally organized event, Jeremy Cowart and Help-Portrait volunteer staffer Annie Downs used the live stream to check in via Skype with volunteers holding events across the world. It was a magical day for all involved.

This year’s global Help-Portrait event day is December 10, 2011 – just five weeks away! This will be my third year volunteering for Help-Portrait and I’m very excited about the new ideas Jeremy Cowart and his team are suggesting in the video above and on the H-P blog. Allow the folks who are having their portraits taken to get behind the camera and make some photographs themselves! Invite people to write or draw on their prints to tell their story and together we can collaborate on a powerful worldwide art project, changing lives one portrait at a time.

Want to get involved in Help-Portrait this year? Volunteer by finding an event near you on the  Help-Portrait Community Site! Already participating in an event? Share your group’s community page in the comments below to recruit fellow creativeLIVErs!

~Kenna Klosterman