It feels good to give back. Especially now when we are experiencing so much isolation. When we find ways to help each other out of our difficulties, it's like getting a two for one on the warm and fuzzy feels. We help someone who needs what we can give AND we feel good ourselves from practicing generosity and selfless giving. It's 100% WIN WIN.
When Central Camera was looted and burned is felt like a real stab in the heart. As one news story put it, it was like a photography museum had been destroyed. Central Camera is much more than a camera store, selling gear and supplies. It's community center that brings people together from all over who share a love of photography. Some folks I know have been shopping at Central since they got their first cameras, perhaps as a gift when they were little and now, the still come.
One of the things I love most about Central Camera is that in an age where everything can be purchased online, they offer real people who know their stuff and will happily explain and answer questions, and deliver a level of personal service that no one ever gets from some online retailer. They all have a real passion for photography and it shows.
And Don Flesch is always there with a bucket of candies, a funny story and a genuine love for the place and people who walk through the door. The store feels like generations of tradition and family-feeling are baked into every inch of the place.
Don is a man of great integrity, old-school values and deep compassion and empathy. When the store was destroyed, he said honestly, that he wasn't angry and that clearly our country has so many inequities that need to be put right.
To help them raise the needed funds for re-opening, I'm offering a special, one-time only, opportunity to purchase a print of this photograph, Viola, from my project , The Waters We Swim In.
The Waters We Swim In is a global photography project; portraits of people floating in water, transforming perceptions of ourselves as isolated, incomprehensible individuals to recognition of mutual belonging and beauty. The images stand as resistance to identity politics by celebrating human vulnerability, beauty and diversity.
I was thrilled to learn that Elizabeth Avedon selected this image for an exhibition, and doubly love that in the show catalog, it's the last photo on the last page. I feel like it sits there reminding of us of our hope and inner beauty, the childlike innocence paired with a deep knowing that children often possess, even when they don't yet always have words for it. Many people have said of this picture that it appears that the young girl is held by a great luminous hand, like God or Source or whatever you want to call it.
I am only printing 5 of these images using Piezography print, (edition of 5, on 8x10 paper, archival) of this photo. Right now there's only THREE left.
25% of each sale goes directly to Central Camera.
Print 1: $150 - SOLD!
Print 2: $200 -SOLD!
Print 3: $250
Print 4: $300
Print 5: $350
Use the contact page to inquire and purchase. I accept Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, or CC. I make all prints myself.
Please share and help save Central Camera, a vital piece of Chicago community.
Thank you so much, Hillary