JDP senior models fly in the holi powder

Class of 2020 has had it rough so we wanted to make something awesome for them!  If you missed our video on FB, we just uploaded it to Youtube!  For many, the celebrations, the milestones, the goodbyes and the moments they’d been anticipating since they understood what it meant to graduate from 12 years of school, were taken away one by one.  Uncertainty and fear laced so many of the decisions being made and they were smack dab in the middle of this storm.

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Attempts were made on multiple fronts to assuage the guilt and sadness over the losses, but Covid-19 meant the loss of so much, for so many, that was irreplaceable.  I was hoping to be able to mark graduation with a different kind of celebration by gathering some of our JDP senior models to make memories in a way that they weren’t anticipating.

And that’s just what we did!  I’ve had this idea on my 1001 long “to do” list mentally for years…and this was the year it all came together!  We had a blast and the kids got outside their comfort zone to create in unique ways that allowed for the cool creations you see here!  I’m thinking this is going to be a new annual tradition to wrap up our JDP senior model season.

Hearing their laughter, seeing them be brave and watching their anticipation made me incredibly grateful for being able to offer this opportunity to a small group of our JDP senior models.  Perhaps my favorite part of the evening was when one of the moms and her daughter left and she teared up, saying how meaningful this whole portrait process had been for her daughter from our first meeting to that night…she was grateful and she wanted us to know.

I’m grateful for the parents and seniors who trust me and the vision I have to create in meaningful ways that compel the viewer to look again…to be enthralled and enchanted.  It’s my pleasure and I’m grateful for the joy this brought!

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I’m also grateful to the boys who suggested, “hey can we kick and punch each other like we are in battle?”  Absolutely!  And of course it was the boys who suggested this while the girls rocked flying delicately through the air! 😉

So class of 2020, in parting I leave you with this charge.  You all were born while our country was reeling from 9/11 and today your graduation is marked by yet another devastating time in our world’s history.  May you all be a part of the change that results in our great nation being known around the world for its honor, gratitude, service, devotion, ingenuity and kindness.  The future is yours and we eagerly await the change for good you will bring!

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