Hi my name is Kambua and I'm fundraising for I Have Earned Every Line™.
Help Bring I Have Earned Every Line™ to Life....
I Have Earned Every Line™ is my love letter to women 50 and over. A portrait and storytelling project celebrating women exactly as they are, without makeup, filters, or beauty retouching.
This project honours the wisdom, resilience, grief, joy, strength, beauty, and lived experience carried in every line. It challenges the idea that women should become less visible as they age and creates space for their stories to be seen, remembered, and celebrated.
To date, I have photographed more than 85 women. My goal is to photograph 100 women in total. Fifty portraits will be exhibited at Alma Gallery in Chicago on September 18, 2026, and all 100 women will be included in a future book alongside their handwritten letters.
Your donation will help support the full vision of this project, including:
1. Archival Printing
Funds will help print the exhibition portraits on high-quality archival paper so each woman is honoured with the beauty, care, and permanence her story deserves.
2. Exhibition Preparation
Donations will support framing, installation materials, gallery preparation, and printed exhibition pieces for the Alma Gallery opening.
3. Storytelling Documentation
Each woman’s story is part of the heart of this project. Funds will help support video, written storytelling, and documentation connected to the portraits.
4. Final Portraits in Kenya and South Africa
This project began in Chicago, but its reach is international. Donations will help support the final portraits being created in Kenya and South Africa.
5. Future Book Publication
All 100 women will be included in a future book. Your support will help begin the production process, including design, editing, layout, and preparation for publication.
Suggested Donation Levels
$25 — Helps support printed project materials
$50 — Supports storytelling documentation
$100 — Helps fund archival printing
$200 — Supports project production and exhibition preparation
$500 — Helps sponsor one exhibition portrait
$1,000+ — Major project supporter
Every donation, no matter the size, helps bring this project closer to the wall, the page, and the world.
Thank you for supporting I Have Earned Every Line™ and helping women 50 and over be seen, celebrated, and remembered.
With gratitude,
Kambua Chema
Organizer
