Faces for Charity
Some people run marathons or jump out of aeroplanes to raise money for good causes (good luck to them!), but I thought there might be a more sedate, but potentially equally daunting way (for some) people to contribute - by having their portrait taken.
I've decided It's about time my photography contributed more to good causes, so I'll be offering portrait slots, gratis, to benefit charities, but not any old standard passport or corporate type headshot. No, I'm thinking something more dramatic, more classic. At the end of the session you get one professional digital portrait file in a “classic” style, suitable for web/social media/print (up to 10x8), in exchange (if you like the results) for a donation (via a GoFundme page) to a charity of my choice.
The first organisation that has benefited is a cause that is close to me. The Alzheimers Society.
My Dad suffered from vascular dementia, a progressive condition that erodes the memory in steps, in his case triggered by a series of transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes). Thankfully, he lived in a supportive sheltered community in Bexhill, close to us. He managed to stay active for the rest of his days, which to an extent mitigated the decline. For me, the information provided by the Alzheimers Society was invaluable in helping me, help him.
I had a target to raise £500 for the Alzheimers Society. With the generosity of the people who have sat for portraits, this target has been beaten.
How does it work?
On rotation I have a fund-raising target for a charity, and as that is achieved, I add another, and so on. These will include local charities and organisations supporting good causes in, and near to, Bexhill-on-Sea, the first of which is the Bexhill Dementia Action Alliance. I would like to raise at least £500 to help fund their "Singing Down Memory Lane" activities.
The portraits are gratis, the only condition is that you approach the experience in a collaborative frame of mind. If people enjoy the portrait, I ask that they consider a donation, so be warned, when I deliver the portraits they'll be a funding link (donation and amount at your discretion - it's up to you). I don't handle any of the money, so apart from the fees charged by the funding page, which can be offset by Gift Aid, all of the donation goes direct to the nominated organisation.
Support
A thank you to Carol at YouNique Wellbeing for providing the studio space at discounted rates, without which this wouldn't be feasible.
What next?
'Faces of Bexhill' the book will be on sale 1st May 24, with profits going to support Singing Down Memory Lane. I have plans to extend Faces for Charity to other genre's of portrait photography to encourage the more active among us. It's early days but the ideas are coming together. However it turns out, it will be fun and it will all be in support of organisations that support Alzheimers and its related conditions.
Get involved
Interested? Then drop me a message here and I'll be in touch. ( Just be aware that 'Faces for Charity' isn't geared for urgent requests, and these portrait sessions take place on Saturday's only.)
It would be great if you could join me in using photography to raise funds for good causes, (and maybe have some fun while you're at it).
Thank you
David
FAQ'S
Some further questions and answers about Faces for Charity.
There's no catch...I thought it would be an interesting non-commercial project to create a portrait of Bexhill. To do that the plan is to photograph non-professional models in Bexhill and the surrounding areas.
Rather than having a production line for portraits, each sitting is a collaboration between myself and the sitter. My style references classic lighting arrangements and poses from the Golden Age of Hollywood, but is not about creating an exact copy, or any form of costume play, of the reference photographs. When discussing poses and lighting the preferences of the sitter in part reflect an element of their personality, and so each portrait becomes personal.
All costs of the project are met by me - funded in the most part by my photographic teaching.
The project is linked into supporting charitable causes. The Alzheimers Society is my first choice - it's personal, I have family history. As the project goes on, I'll support other charities in and around Bexhill-on-Sea.
No.
The portrait will be delivered after the session and it's yours.
I will also send a donation link with the portrait, it is a request, not a mandate.
The primary purpose of the project is to build a portrait of Bexhill by photographing a cross section of the population, young, old...
That said, the opportunity to use the portraits as a way to draw attention to charitable causes, like the Alzheimer's Society and to encourage donations would in my mind be an opportunity missed - so I'm upfront about it. I don't want people to think they've been mugged into making a donation.
If, for whatever reason, there is no donation, there will be no chasing, no call-out etc. I'm only interested in hitting my target.
Via a GoFundMe page associated with the charity. I don't have any direct involvement beyond having set up the page.
Apart from the fees charged, which can be offset by Gift Aid, all of the donation goes direct to the nominated charity.
Everyone's feeling the pinch at the moment so any amount is welcome.
As a guide donations to date have ranged been between £15.00 and £100.00. Each donation received with gratitude, irrespective of the amount.
As long as the numbers on my Donation Tracker keep going up - that's all I'm concerned with.
These are based on industry standard practices that set out what each party can and can not do with the images. It formalises what we'll talk about during a pre-portrait chat. As this is a non-commercial project, I've slimmed these down.
The key thing is, even though the portraits are yours, I still retain ownership as the Photographer. It all sounds a bit counter-intuitive so the Conditions grant a Licence that provides you the Rights to use the portraits for whatever non-commercial activity you want, for as long as you want, without any need for payment while acknowledging that as the Photographer I retain the Copyright.
They're here if you want to go through them before deciding if you would like to go ahead.
Well...a selfie is just that, it lacks objectivity and camera phones and home lighting tips on YouTube will only take you so far. Dare I say it a dedicated camera, portrait lens and lighting just might yield better results.
We live in an age where we are inundated with more imagery than ever before, where fashion trends seem to change almost weekly, and our self-image risks being curated by social media algorithms and filters. This is in turn could affect our self-esteem as our perception of how we look, versus how we think we should look, can gradually chip away at how we think of ourselves. Sometimes we fail to acknowledge that even the rich and famous can spend a lot of time and money to achieve that, "oh this - it's just something I threw on look."
Some people say that they're not photogenic, don't photograph well, or are too old - I've heard them all, and I don't subscribe to that line of thought. We're all individual, we all change. Those changes should be embraced and enjoyed as a sign of life experience, and what makes us unique.
I think it needs to be done properly - but that's me...
Classic portraiture aims to show the subject as they are through using simple backgrounds and a minimum of props.
Light and shadow is used to emphasise and compliment the sitter with particular emphasis on the eyes.
Classic portraits can be distinguished by being in black and white (although not exclusively).
My portraits are inspired by, but not direct copies of, the Hollywood studio portraits from the 1930's to the 1950's. I use these as a starting point from which a unique portrait is created.
I have a pop-up studio at the YouNique Wellbeing Studios in Bexhill-on-Sea, a friendly and welcoming environment.
I am only doing a maximum of two a month at the moment - Saturday afternoons only.
It varies, but on average about an hour.
Some sessions take longer, some shorter.
I'll arrange an initial meeting where we'll discuss some ideas from a mood board as a starting point. This preamble is important as going in "cold" on the day makes a big difference to the portrait. I'll describe the lighting variations with some examples so that on the day I'll have the lights setup and ready. There is no obligation at this point to commit to the portrait, but if you're in agreement, we'll agree a date and off we go!
The lighting used consists of a LED modelling lights, (no hot lights), and flash. There will be a short delay between each flash exposure, so there won't be any strobe disco type effect. The session will start with some "warm up" photos while I fine tune the lighting and suggest some comfortable poses.
The whole experience will be relaxed, you can stop anytime. There will be breaks built in as we'll review the photographs on a tablet/laptop - one of the great things about shooting digitally.
No problem at all. I welcome anything that makes you comfortable.
Just let me know in advance of the session.
For information I am assisted by my wife (she charges me a very reasonable rate)
When the photographs are ready you will have access to a private online viewing gallery where you can view and download the photographs at your leisure.
Photographs will be "photo-shopped" as part of the standard process to get the best rendering from the digital file.
This work will be kept to a minimum as my preference is to create the image using a combination of camera lens and lighting. That said I don't know any make-up artists willing to work pro-bono, so if you arrive at the session after having had a bad nights sleep, or have a temporary spot(s), then with your permission I'll apply some digital concealer when retouching.
For black and white images, I will use the digital equivalent of classic darkroom techniques to get the best "look."
Overall the effect will be naturalistic and hopefully you'll agree it will show you at your best.
I am aware that there are organisations that support and undertake good work to support good causes, so if their aims align with mine, I'm not going to dismiss them out of hand.
I use the term "charity" loosely to cover both, charities (as registered with the Charities Commission), and not for profit social enterprises (registered as Community Interest Companies).
I'm taking this in steps so no pets or children - sorry - but I have extended the photographs to include couples.
It's the same process, instead all I need are two people willing to work with me to create a portrait inspired by the lighting techniques of the Golden Age of Hollywood, the underlying theme for Faces for Charity.
So if you ever fancied yourself in a similar light to Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn - please get in touch and we'll have a chat about it.
There is the option on the funding page to hide your details so that only the amount is displayed.
If all donations were anonymous, I would only know the running total.
Check out my Donation Tracker page.
I maintain a summary of money raised, with links to the Go FundMe pages.
By default I don't post the images to social media e.g Facebook/Instagram/X etc so if I wanted to use your portrait, it would only be with your express permission.
You can of course post the photographs to your own social media feed(s). Be my guest! There's no copyright restriction for personal non-commercial use, although I wouldn't mind an acknowledgement as the photographer.
Just send me a message through my contact form and I'll take it from there.
Afraid not.
The delivery is a print ready file suitable for printing up to 10 x 8 inches.
I will retain ownership of the original RAW file (digital negative) as this is not the finished product. As far as I am concerned it's a work in progress.
iPad's - bless 'em.
Depending on your operating system version and age of your iPad, some may not be able to download files directly from the site, or at least it won't seem very intuitive.
I have some hints here: