Last year’s donation to Susan G. Komen’s Massachusetts affiliate was well received, but this year, I wanted to donate to a smaller breast cancer-related charity where the funds we raised would really make a difference in changing women’s lives for the better.
This year’s recipient is the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, a therapeutic center supporting women in their recovery from breast cancer. Co-founder and Executive Director, Betsy Tyson-Smith (pictured here in the Garden with Lana Roman), sent along a little information to share with you about The Healing Garden.
"The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden provides a healing environment with a range of complementary therapies, psychosocial support, and educational programs, and is unique in its inclusion of access to over eight-acres of gardens for its clients; we consider the Healing Garden as providing a new paradigm for healing and living well with breast cancer.
Our belief is that breast cancer is a condition that may recur or spread even when treatment ends. The person – and the family – still must confront and live well with that truth. The Healing Garden’s goals are to enable women to find the support they need, to understand and make informed choices that contribute to their health, to learn to manage their stress and improve their quality of life, and to regain control of their health – both during and after treatment. The Healing Garden provides this community of support for as long as needed."
I encourage all readers to share this wonderful place and organization with any loved ones you know who are currently battling breast cancer or are breast cancer survivors. Thank you for helping me support The Healing Garden in their therapeutic, social and community goals!
You may recognize these gorgeous faces from this year’s event promotional materials.
Jamie & Georgie plan to come back every year for the event and I can’t wait to see how G. grows! Jamie gave me permission to share an interview she recently gave regarding the event:
What inspired you to
attend [Portraits for Progress]?
My daughter Georgie,
is named after my best friend Amy York–Georgie’s middle name is Ames, which is what we
called Amy. Amy died in October of 2000 from breast cancer. She was
only 43. I thought that having a photograph of Georgie and I together for
this event was a special way of honoring Amy and celebrating Georgie’s arrival.
Was there anything about Teya, your personal
shoot, and/or Portraits for Progress itself that inspired or surprised you?
Well, I am very
inspired by Teya’s skill level — I think her photographs are absolutely
beautiful. It was a bonus to meet her and discover this incredibly calm,
warm, patient woman.
I have to add that
Teya was pretty terrific with me before the shoot. I had mentioned in one
of my emails that I was very sad that Georgie would never get to meet her
namesake. Teya’s response meant a great deal to me-I actually saved it-
and it says a lot about how wonderful she is. See below.
Thanks for writing.
I’m so sorry about your friend – I’m sure your daughter will grow up feeling
special and connected to her through her name, even if they never got to meet.
Would you recommend
Portraits for Progress to other women? If so, why?
Without a doubt!
There is really no reason not to do it —- you pay nothing to get
extraordinary photos from an amazing artist and you are contributing to the
fight against cancer. The real question is, why wouldn’t everyone do it?
I am planning on sending out the information to as many people as I can
this year.
I am absolutely honored and humbled by Jamie’s words, and inspired by their story and personalities to continue to create beautiful mother/daughter images of them and the other women and girls who attend the event.
Just wanted to share a few more groups of lovely ladies! I’m also working on updating the Portraits for Progress™ website w/more information on the events in other states and copies of the press we received this year. Stay tuned – I’ll share some more favorites from these charity mini-sessions later in the week.
I am exhausted but happy! We raised over $1500 so far for breast cancer-related charity. I met lots of great women, and had a great time while working towards supporting this worthy cause. I need a little time to recover before proofing all the images, but couldn’t resist sharing a few. Thanks to all who participated!
Whether I capture images indoors or out among nature, it is the relationships that take center stage. There are a few openings left for this year’s Portraits for Progress™ event this Saturday and Sunday. The event is a great opportunity to spend some time with the special women and girls in your life and support a great cause!
I will also have my weekend calendar for the event at tomorrow night’s Junior League of Worcester Girls’ Night Out. I hope to reconnect with some old friends and mingle with the fabulous women who will be attending as shoppers or vendors.
We as women have a love/hate relationship with
photographs. We pore over magazines and
admire the artistry and beauty of models, celebrities and what they wear, and
we are often the archivers of our own family histories, taking snaps of both
milestones and everyday moments. In our
culture, we surround ourselves and embrace imagery, and yet we are often
hesitant to become that image ourselves. I’m as guilty as the next woman of
hiding from the camera, or putting off that family portrait until I lose weight,
or cut my hair, or get a better wardrobe.
The truth is, the people who love us love us exactly as we
look right now, and want and need to have our images to reminisce over, to
remember with and just to look at and smile when we are apart. Of course, we also
want to look our best in photographs, which is why I pride myself on capturing
each of my clients as if they themselves were that celebrity in the magazine:
everyone has a certain beauty inside, and it is a joy to be able to bring it
out and share it with my portrait work.
We are united by the many facets of being women, both the
positives and negatives, and as the mother of a daughter (and another one on
the way!), I am especially aware this year of what binds me to the women and
girls of my own family. I am excited to
once again hold Portraits for Progress,™ to celebrate these bonds and at the
same time raise money for a cause that has unfortunately affected too many of
us.
I was touched by the generosity and enthusiasm of the women
who came to my studio for last year’s event, and look forward to seeing them
again and meeting new mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers! I encourage all of
you who were perhaps waiting for that “perfect” moment for your portrait to
bring the important women and girls in your life and participate in this event,
and I will do what I do best: capture your relationship at this particular
moment and make you look like the gorgeous person you are.
Portraits for Progress™ 2008 will be held on April 12th
and 13th this year, with most portraits available in time for
Mother’s Day. Mini-sessions are
available by appointment from 9am to 6pm, and are $50 for up to five people,
including two 5×7 prints. Additional
prints are available for purchase at half off the regular price. Proceeds will be going to benefit breast
cancer research, education and awareness.
Please email me at teya@teyaphoto.com
or call (508) 892-0107 or (617) 480-6153 for an appointment.
Some recent sessions:
I know I haven’t posted enough lately, but I’m sure you blog readers realize I was busy in preparation for my fundraising event, Portraits for Progress.™
Here is a shot of the first group of the day – these lovely ladies are four generations, totally the kind of thing I was hoping for!
and here are a few others from the event:
I will update you all soon with the totals for the event. Thank you to all who participated!
Join me Mother’s Day weekend to support the fight against breast cancer. I’m launching Portraits for Progress, which I hope will be an annual event, to benefit the Massachusetts Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure: for $20, bring your mother, daughter, sister and/or grandmother for a sitting and Photography by Teya 5×7 portrait. All proceeds will be donated to Komen Massachusetts. Additional 5x7s will be available for purchase at 50% off the regular price. Help me make the event a success!
I took a visit today to the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, a place that
provides therapy for women dealing with breast cancer in an environment that
allows them to connect with nature and other women experiencing the same
things. I had the pleasure of
photographing the director and her executive assistant for their upcoming
event, Wine Women and Shoes.
I had a great time with these two vivacious ladies! Although
we got some more traditional headshots, like this one of Betsy, it was great to
capture a few moments to show how warm and friendly these ladies are.
