This is the one
Many years ago my dear friend Katy Kelly lost her brother Michael, one of the truly great writers of our time, in Iraq. Michael Kelly, the editor of The Atlantic Monthly and a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, was killed when the humvee he was riding in was ambushed near the Baghdad airport. His death remains a terrible loss, especially if you've ever have the pleasure of reading his posthumous collection of columns, Things Worth Fighting For. (Like many, my favorite remains his his wicked profile of "Farmer Al" Gore, in which the former veep's childhood memories of growing up in Carthage, Tennessee come head to head with the realities of his other childhood-- the one spent living in the penthouse of a posh Washington hotel. It will make you pee in your pants.)
I knew Michael, though mainly through Katy, and had the pleasure of photographing him holding his young son Tom on the front porch of his northwest Washington home. Shortly after his death, while driving home from my Old Town studio, I had the crazy idea of doing a charity benefit, to raise money for the college funds of young Tom and Jack. I remember writing in my mass email that I didn't know anything about raising money but I knew a lot about taking portraits. A few weeks later, with the help of some good friends, we spent ten hours in my little studio shooting portraits on a vintage 4 x 5 camera. By the end of that one day we had collected $14,000 in donations. And I learned a valuable lesson of fundraising: everyone wants to help but someone's gotta get the ball rolling.
We did the Photo Marathon, as we dubbed it, for two more years, with a hiatus after Katrina, sensing people were being pulled in too many charitable directions. I've been looking for an opportunity to rekindle Photo Marathon, knowing that one day a reason would simply appear.
Well, after reading today's Washington Post I am pleased, though saddended, to report that we're back in business. Today's front page featured a truly touching story about Army Reserve Capt. Brian S. Freeman, of Temecula, California. From all accounts, Capt. Freeman was a remarkable human being--a West Point grad who served his country, an avid and accomplished bobsledder, a husband, and father to two small children, Gunnar, 2, and Ingrid, 1. But the most amazing thing about Capt. Freeman is how he spent the last six months of his life in Iraq--working tirelessly on behalf of a sick 11-year-old Iraqi boy in desperate need of lifesaving heart surgery in the United States. Tragically, within hours of finally securing the transit visas for the boy and his family, Capt. Freeman was abducted by insurgent gunmen and executed.
As I read today's story, with it's Romeo and Juliet twist of fate, the same feelings that came over me after Michael Kelly's death came rushing to the surface. Anyone want to guess what a college education will cost in 2022, when Captain Freeman's children are ready to enroll?
And so this will be our mission for 2007: we will raise money in memory of Captain Freeman, a brave and honorable man who refused to let a war get in the way of his heart. I don't know exactly how and I don't know exactly when--the details will sort themselves out--but we're starting today,
Stay tuned for details about how you can help Capt. Freeman's children. We will certainly be scheduling a Photo Marathon in Capt. Freeman's memory in the spring. But I'm also going to start looking into to creating a charitable arm of Matt Mendelsohn Photography, a not-for-profit fund devoted exclusively to helping people in need. I know many of my clients are attorneys, so here's an offer: the first attorney to help me navigate the minefield of creating a 501c3, or whatever it is we might need to get this going, gets a free family portrait session.
As I said, stay tuned for more details. And so as not to end this on a sad note, I'll leave you guys with a photo from the first week of February, the intimate and joyful wedding of Marine Capt. John Price Van Cleve and Wendy Colfer. More photos to come.
Matt
I knew Michael, though mainly through Katy, and had the pleasure of photographing him holding his young son Tom on the front porch of his northwest Washington home. Shortly after his death, while driving home from my Old Town studio, I had the crazy idea of doing a charity benefit, to raise money for the college funds of young Tom and Jack. I remember writing in my mass email that I didn't know anything about raising money but I knew a lot about taking portraits. A few weeks later, with the help of some good friends, we spent ten hours in my little studio shooting portraits on a vintage 4 x 5 camera. By the end of that one day we had collected $14,000 in donations. And I learned a valuable lesson of fundraising: everyone wants to help but someone's gotta get the ball rolling.We did the Photo Marathon, as we dubbed it, for two more years, with a hiatus after Katrina, sensing people were being pulled in too many charitable directions. I've been looking for an opportunity to rekindle Photo Marathon, knowing that one day a reason would simply appear.
Well, after reading today's Washington Post I am pleased, though saddended, to report that we're back in business. Today's front page featured a truly touching story about Army Reserve Capt. Brian S. Freeman, of Temecula, California. From all accounts, Capt. Freeman was a remarkable human being--a West Point grad who served his country, an avid and accomplished bobsledder, a husband, and father to two small children, Gunnar, 2, and Ingrid, 1. But the most amazing thing about Capt. Freeman is how he spent the last six months of his life in Iraq--working tirelessly on behalf of a sick 11-year-old Iraqi boy in desperate need of lifesaving heart surgery in the United States. Tragically, within hours of finally securing the transit visas for the boy and his family, Capt. Freeman was abducted by insurgent gunmen and executed.As I read today's story, with it's Romeo and Juliet twist of fate, the same feelings that came over me after Michael Kelly's death came rushing to the surface. Anyone want to guess what a college education will cost in 2022, when Captain Freeman's children are ready to enroll?
And so this will be our mission for 2007: we will raise money in memory of Captain Freeman, a brave and honorable man who refused to let a war get in the way of his heart. I don't know exactly how and I don't know exactly when--the details will sort themselves out--but we're starting today,
Stay tuned for details about how you can help Capt. Freeman's children. We will certainly be scheduling a Photo Marathon in Capt. Freeman's memory in the spring. But I'm also going to start looking into to creating a charitable arm of Matt Mendelsohn Photography, a not-for-profit fund devoted exclusively to helping people in need. I know many of my clients are attorneys, so here's an offer: the first attorney to help me navigate the minefield of creating a 501c3, or whatever it is we might need to get this going, gets a free family portrait session.
As I said, stay tuned for more details. And so as not to end this on a sad note, I'll leave you guys with a photo from the first week of February, the intimate and joyful wedding of Marine Capt. John Price Van Cleve and Wendy Colfer. More photos to come.
Matt
posted by matt mendelsohn at 8:18 PM
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