The Senior Portrait Project

What is the Senior Portrait Project?

The Senior Portrait Project is a collaboration of photographers from the Los Angeles area that gather together to document and celebrate the graduation of high school seniors that have been in or connected to the LA Foster Care System and at risk students.

I am so inspired by these students. Each one of them has overcome challenges that are so very different than my own. Many of these students have been in multiple school districts, multiple homes, estranged from family and sometimes reunited. Around 50% of students in LA Foster Care System graduate high school. Because of these obstacles and odds many of them don’t have photos from their past and more often than not, their major life events have not been celebrated!

Our desire in this project is to commemorate of this special occasion. For these graduates, this is a major milestone and deserves celebration! Some of the students we photograph are the first in their families to graduate high school! Often times there isn’t anyone marking this special occasion with them. We want to celebrate them and affirm them in this moment of their lives.

For most high school seniors, graduation is the defining moment where they move from the end of childhood to the beginning of adulthood. We want to join these students  in celebrating this moment and honor their hard work.

In this project, we partner with Olive Crest of Los Angeles County. Olive Crest is dedicated to preventing child abuse, to treating and educating at-risk children, and to preserving the family. They provide care and resources to foster children, foster families and more than 50,000 at risk children and families per year.

What we provide to students:

Each student is provided with photos session time with some of the best senior portrait photographers in Los Angeles. After the session they are given an archival quality photo book and a custom flash drive with high quality images from their session. Any additional funds raised from this event go toward making the event more special for the students (gift cards to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.).

How you can help:

Sponsor a student! This year we are photographing 26 graduates! The base cost for the photobook and custom flash drive is $65. If you would like to sponsor a student please contact me directly and I will tell you how you can make your contribution! Email me at: [email protected]. Note… this goes to my personal Paypal… I do not process funds for this project through my business ever…

Each year, photographers donate highly skilled time and resources to this project. People from all of the country provide the funds to help pay for the expenses of production and printing of the images. Software and print companies donate and provide great discounts for their services.

Participating Photographers:

Marcus Roy Hoffman www.marcusroyhoffman.com

Melody Telk www.ashutterintimephotography.com

Jennifer Moreno  www.jennifernicolephoto.com

Allison Tompkins www.allitompkinsphotography.com

Companies that Sponsor:

Miller’s Lab www.millerslab.com

StompSoftware www.stompsoftware.com

Photographer’s Edit www.photographersedit.com

If you are a Los Angeles area photographer and would like to join us please contact me at [email protected].

If you are a photographer in another area that would like to host a similar project, please feel free to contact me with any questions! I would love to share what I’ve learned.