Unignorable Beauty
My dream assignment is to capture the overlooked beauty of the poverty-stricken of the world, giving all profits made from the photos back to the communities of the ones whom I photographed, enabling them to live fuller, healthier lives.
The earth’s beauty is impossible to ignore if we simply take a glance around us. From the stillness of an abandoned ivy-covered home to water droplets resting on a leaf after it rains to the overwhelming reds and oranges and purples of a sunset on a muggy evening, beauty is so easily found if we only take the time to be still and look at what our Creator has made.
Beauty is everywhere. Beauty is priceless. Beauty is unignorable.
But how often do we unknowingly discredit the have-nots of the world with possessing or being capable of creating any beauty whatsoever? We hear about the poor in other countries, we drive by the homeless on our way home from work, but more often than not we instantly dismiss them as soon as the conversation changes or they’re out of our sight.
A homeless man in Philadelphia may have the brightest smile one has ever known, a family living in the waste-filled slums of Kolkata may weave some of the most beautiful scarves in the city, a widow in the middle of Uganda might possess the most piercing eyes in her village; does anyone even notice? How much does their poverty unnecessarily add to the fact that they’re overlooked by so many and dismissed of having little or no worth whatsoever?
I desire to not only interact with and capture the beauty of those so quickly and consistently forgotten across the world, but also to give all profit made from the photos back to the communities of the the ones whose pictures I captured, providing them with the basic necessities of life that they’ve gone without day after day.
Obviously, it’s not as simple as writing a check to a family living on the streets of India or slipping a homeless man an envelope containing several hundred dollars. The profits will be given to organizations already active in the numerous places where I’d visit and capture on film.
Some of these organizations include...
-The HOPE Foundation (www.hopefoundation.ie), which runs clinics, housing, and schools for children living on the street in Kolkata, India
- The Mocha Club (www.mochaclub.org), working throughout Africa to create jobs, restore life and hope to young mothers once captured to be sex slaves to military rebels, and giving medical attention and education to those living with HIV/AIDS
- Habitat for Humanity International (www.habitat.org), an organization that calls people of all races, religions, and backgrounds worldwide to help build homes for people in need of housing
My dream assignment has the potential to create countless fruit for those across the world who are in need of it most. It would help provide them with basic physical needs and also cultivate their own knowledge that they are in fact beautiful and have true and lasting worth.
How amazing it would be if we heeded German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s words: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
52 Comments
This is wonderful! I hope all the best for you. Here is my unrestricted vote.
Great idea! I voted... Please return the favor and PIC my idea if you find it interesting! Thanks and good luck!
Beautiful idea
Good luck Quinn, you have the Diamond vote from Scotland!
This is an awesome idea! I pic'd it. Return the vote?
Great idea! I pic'd you... return the favor?
A wonderful vision. If you would, please vote for mine too. Maybe one of us may win! Much luck!
hello....cool...chekc out mine too!
Awesome, glad I found this, good luck man.
Great idea. Voted. Let me know what you think of my idea too.
This is a really cool idea, I voted for you, please check out mine and return the vote, good luck!
Would this culminate in a book, an exhibition, or how? Voted for you. Feel free to return teh favor and vote for my project on Zimbabwe.
Very cool idea. I agree witl the previous comment. This would make an excellent book. If you get a minute, please check out my idea and return the vote if you like it.
beautiful. :)
LOVE IT! It sounds a lot like my EYES OPEN Project foundation I launched a year ago. Interesting story to tell! You got my vote.
Perhaps you could check out mine? I am committed to exposing the inequalities in our public school systems. CHALK: the eyes of a failing public education system.
wonderful idea quinn! i hope you win :)
- hannah b.
Good luck Quinn...
good luck! this sounds so incredible and i really, really hope you win. so many incredible things could be done in those communities with this money. :-)
amen, brother, amen :)
gscottballard quinn, i am so pleased to vote for you. maybe i can go with you in my special shoes that i can walk in. huh? your essay is so special.
Hey Quinn! What an inspirational dream. You have my vote..good luck!!
you are amazing and i hope you win. please come see me at bongo soon!!!
Loved. Voted. Commented.
Good stuff. Voted.
Nick S.
i got'chu quinn! love whitney
So amazing!! Follow your heart because the spirit is in you, my friend! Love what you're doing and really will be praying for you to win! xoxo
Yay!! Very nice. I really hope you win so that you can show us what you got :]
yea, yea, yea, yea, YAY, QUINN!!!!!!!!!!
total support = vote.
good luck!!!! :o)
quinn, i am praying for the continued support. love dad
I rooting for you, Quinn!!!!!!!!!!!!!! natalie h.
Quinn,
I tried to vote but am not sure that it is included. Believe it or not, our power went off seconds after I hit the pic it button. Now I can seem to get logged back in to the website.
Terry
awesome Quinn!
Quinn,
Great idea, good luck. You deserve to win!
Kerry
You rock Quinn, You have my vote !!! Can I go with you, I won't need special shoes!! Love Cindy
Woot Great job!!
I just PIC'd you!
Please stop by mine and PIC me too!
Good Luck with your dream!!
Great picture, Quinn. Bob will be jealous!
Awesome Quinn - I'm praying you will win. Go to Africa and visit the Hoops of Hope sites :)
good luck quinn! this would be a huge dream of mine but i hope it can come true for you!!
I love you Quinndalin! Good luck bro!!!
Best wishes Quinn!! Voted for you, I really hope you win!! You have an incredibly noble idea and passion for people that is remarkable and refreshing. Amanda
Keep up the good work Quinn.
Keep on going Quinn - you are within reach! Ryan S
Good luck Quinn! Shelli
quinn, you deserve this.
i just voted for you, quinn!! i really hope you win!!
--kristen napier :)
Just voted- Sounds like a great idea!
Bert's Mom,
Brenda
all the best Quinn
Danelle
Quinn, you're amazing! best of luck with your new venture!
cousin chris
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you! You have an amazing outlook on the world around you.
Good idea, check out mine and vote for me if you like it. Its about poverty and society in 3rd world countries and how they are controlled, devastated by their governments and western industrialized nations.
I LOVE YOU QUINN! You have my vote boo!
imaclellan
You have noble dreams and choose some wonderful organizations to work with! Voted.
Check out my project on innovation and technology as change for the developing world and my portfolio here: http://maclellanimages.com/blog1/galleries/