This is very cool! The "Help Portrait" project was working their magic at the Old Brewery Mission - one of Montreals well known homeless shelters - over the weekend.
Free photo sessions light people up MONTREAL - A homeless man posed like a surfer and put on a happy face as photographers snapped his photo at the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal.
It was easy to see that being briefly in the spotlight gave him a boost of confidence.
“It made me feel like I counted and I could connect with the outside world,” explained Pascal, 24, one of about 75 Old Brewery residents who participated in free photo sessions offered Saturday by volunteers with Help Portrait, a worldwide non-profit group that photographs low-income people and offers them the photos (in 10 centimetre by 15 centimetre or 12 cm by 17 cm prints) as free, no-string-attached keepsakes.
Help Portrait photographers must pledge not to use or distribute the photos anywhere.
“Some of them are very shy, they’re camera shy,” Help Portrait volunteer photographer Sylvia Rourke, a former banker, explained about the subjects. “They’re concerned about whether we have ulterior motives and what we might do with their photos.”
Rourke said the photo sessions give participants a chance to feel proud. “Last year I was at the ladies’ Old Brewery centre and we photographed about 18 girls from age 16 to 60 and it was just an unbelievable experience for them. (The animator at the centre) said she had never seen some of these women before with make-up on, their hair washed and wearing their nice clothes.”
John, 33, said he came to live at the Old Brewery Mission on St. Antoine St. at a low point in his life. “At one point I wasn’t working a lot either, so one thing led to another and I came here,” said the man who grew up on the West Island. “I had a job, full-time, two days later. So I’m going to be getting out of here soon.”
He said he’ll give some of the portraits to his relatives. One Help Portrait subject stated on the group’s website that his photo “represents where I'm going, not where I’ve been.”
Help Portrait photographs people in more than 40 cities every year on or around Dec. 4. The Montreal volunteers with Help Portrait will be taking more photos on Saturday (Dec. 4) at the YMCA in Point St. Charles and on Sunday Dec. 5 at the Friendship Circle in Côte des Neiges. The group would photograph other groups if it was asked.
For more information, visit Groups - Help-Portrait Community
mharrold@montrealgazette.com
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