For most of my adult life I have served either as a photographer or social worker. As an artist I see beauty in the broken, estranged and transitional aspects of life. Art is found to be great partially due to how raw and honest it is. A photo conveys a story; and stories are marked by both trauma and hope. The tension that lies between the two is what holds the image together. It connects the beginning to the end, while maintaining a sense of mystery and grandeur in it’s unsettled state. Tragedy is what makes victory so sweet, and scars remind us to live in grace.
As a social worker, I find myself seeing through a second, idealistic lens. So often man uses his own free will to destroy himself and others. Honesty takes courage. Justice takes sacrifice. These are real choices we are all confronted with daily.
How does our all-seeing God navigate this dichotomy? We know he hates evil, yet allows it. We know he will one day restore all things to perfection yet he gives us the gift of purity even while we live on earth; with our scars, and our pain.
Walking this line of documenting as an outsider and being invited deep as an aid worker provides constant opportunity to wrestle through these seemingly contradictory realities. As a missionary in Brazil working with victims of human trafficking, I see the best and the worst of humanity. I get to photograph banquets to lavish God’s love upon women trapped in the red light district, birthday parties for girls in Betânia (our safe house for children rescued from prostitution and abuse), baby showers for single mothers in the slums, and so on. Photography has become one of my favorite ways not only to raise awareness, but also to bestow value upon those who do not have the resources for frivolity. Many of the individuals we work with have never had photos of themselves before.
I recently released a 40 page photography book about human trafficking in Brazil called Sons and Daughters. It combines research, interviews, stories, and images to illustrate the backdrop of a beautiful country who currently ranks second worst in the world for their numbers in the sex trade. The photos in this book span a one-year portion of Shores journey in Brazil, highlighting the cities of Recife, Goiânia Curitiba, and Sao Paulo. They are a small representation of hundreds of late night and early morning hours on the street spent building relationships with women in prostitution and families in the slums to learn what life is truly like for them. Click here for details.