The KindaSuper Project

After a disaster, we tend to forget about what people must endure to regain a sense of "normal" life.  We cannot fathom what it must feel like to lose our homes or belongings. Small things like that one photograph you had of your father as a child, or your mother's last family portrait with her parents and sisters before she left for the military... These are things that mean the world to many, but will never be able to be reproduced.  

(image by Sacco and Matt Woolbright/Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK)

My name is Mario Elias and I am a photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The Kinda Super Project will bring photographic resources to those who have experienced loss or hardships, by going to disaster stricken areas and shooting family portraits for those affected by these tragedies.  With this project, I want to help uplift and encourage, reclaim and recover. If any old picture is worth a thousand words, then let's snap a few to start writing our own history.

This opportunity will bring new photography to those who have lost their family portraits to the recent hurricanes and forest fires that have left so many without homes or personal belongings. In the long term, it has the potential to help a single mother who is struggling to get her business off of the ground by providing professional headshots and photo assets to promote her business. It could even be as simple as portraits for a survivor that wants to celebrate triumph over adversity. The possibilities are endless.  

(image via Chicago Tribune/Associated Press)

I intend, with this first round of funding, to travel to the hurricane-devastated areas of Houston, Miami,  and Puerto Rico, and the fire-ravaged communities north of San Francisco. I will be setting up a multi-day openhouse in each city, where I will shoot family portraits for anyone that was affected by these catastrophic events. 

(image via Peter DaSilva, Special To The Chronicle)

The money raised here will go to buy supplies/resources such as a high-quality portable photo printer, ink, photo paper and matting, portable strobe lights, and travel expenses.  I will be using my own camera and backdrop set-up to keep costs low.  This will be used to print the portraits on-location. No family portraits will be shared with the public unless permission is expressly granted. This is not for a book or blog or portfolio; this is solely a charitable opportunity to give back to our fellow citizens.

This project is something that has consumed my mind so many times throughout my life, and with the amount of loss our country has experienced recently, I know this is the time to make this dream a reality. I want to use my skill as a photographer to give hope and joy to those who could use it most.

Your support will help bring smiles to hundreds of faces. Don't pass that opportunity up! If each image is worth a thousand words, then together we can rewrite plenty of wrongs in no time.

Let's do something KindaSuper together.

With Love,

Mario Elias

www.marioeliasphotography.com