Volunteer Photographers Provide Refugees Free Family Portraits for World Refugee Day

Volunteer North Texas professional photographers provided free family portraits for refugees resettled in Dallas through the work of the International Rescue Committee on World Refugee Day, 2019. Recruited by Colleyville photographer Lindsey Walden, the group set up shop at Conrad High School in Dallas during a World Refugee Celebration hosted by the committee on June 22^nd.  Mrs. Walden, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisted dozens of volunteers, including her husband and three children, to help make the event possible.

 “Our third year organizing family pictures for World Refugee Day was a huge success!” said Walden. “We are so grateful to the photographers and other volunteers who came and donated their time and talents to provide beautiful images for these families. Also, I am so thankful our friends in the community who donated the necessary frames, photo paper, printers, and ink to make this event so memorable. We could not have done it without your generosity!”

Lindsey, along with professional photographers, Ranjani Groth, Maggie Bryant, Lu Mackey, and Jane Dowd, volunteered an entire day away from their businesses and were able to set up three stations for family pictures. Families lined up outside the school cafeteria and were brought in and posed by the photographers and their assistants.

“We definitely have created an efficient system for providing images to as many families as possible,” Walden said. “Each station had one to two photographers working to pose and capture the refugee families as they came through. Then these images were printed by our team of volunteers, carefully cropped and framed before being delivered to the family. Seeing the joy on their faces when they received their framed images was so heartwarming!”

Representatives from the International Rescue Committee have shared that during their frequent visits to refugee families in the area, they often see these family pictures hanging prominently in their homes. They become treasured memories and keepsakes for them as they start their new lives in America. Some of them have never had portraits made, and these pictures become an important part of their story.

“It was such an honor to be invited by the International Rescue Committee for the third year in a row. It was an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone,” Walden said.

The volunteers who helped that day learned more about the plight of refugees in our community. Leslie Horn, who volunteered with her son to trim and frame the printed photos, explains, “These families have been through so much, and have often been through a years-long approval process before they even set foot in the United States. It’s really rewarding to see them come together to have a photo made; they already understand how important their family is because they have struggled together, but now they have a visual reminder.”

Becky Ward, who brought her teenage daughter and a friend to help print and distribute the photos to the waiting families, was touched by their gratitude. She recalls, “There were refugees there from all over the world: Iraq, Ethiopia, Afghanistan . . .  we could see how special each family unit was as they came in to have their picture taken together. I’m so glad I was able to help!”

You can read more about the project here. If you are a photographer and would like to volunteer your services for future World Refugee Day celebrations, please email Lindsay Walden at [email protected].