Project Portrait is a project I’ve had on my heart for some time, but the timing hasn’t been quite right to get it started. In fact, the details have been rather vague in my mind and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do other than to bless others with this passion God has given me. It wasn’t until one day when I was cleaning my kitchen (mid November-possibly) this specific idea popped into my head. So just as simple as that, KMP’s Project Portrait was born.

This project is a rather large undertaking, but it will basically consist of up to 12 donated sessions this year (up to 1 a month). They will be donated to an individual and their family who has either been recently diagnosed with cancer or a terminal illness or is in their battle fighting one of these two things. I will choose a recipient if one is presented to me but I will also need your help and will be receiving nominations to a separate email address (projectportrait@kristymaephotography.com). I am also currently working on a way to raise the funds to provide each family with a hardcover layflat album with some of their favorite images from their session (Please email me if you would like to contribute to this cause).

The main purpose of this project is to simply offer a little bit of light and joy to them amongst this dark time and to give their family something to look forward to. The session is completely free (no catches or hidden costs) and should capture the strength and beauty of their family and create beautiful images they can cherish forever.

Just as quickly as this project was born, it was added to my list of things to work on but hadn’t quite reached the top of my to do list. It wasn’t long before I stumbled across Mary’s story, and I just knew she would be the perfect one to kick off this project.

Mary was recently diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer and is now in the midst of fighting her battle. She is strong and beautiful, has a fighting spirit, is always working to support everyone around her, and has a heart of gold. I have never met Mary before this session, but it only took minutes to see how special and amazing she really is. I started with the intent of blessing Mary and her fantastic support system, but it ended up being me who was blessed immensely. Thank you Mary for accepting this nomination and for allowing me to be a part of this journey and just for being so absolutely amazing. Keep on fighting and being such an amazing inspiration to so many!!

All My Love, Kristy