Meet Flashes of Hope Volunteer Photographer Bridget Caswell

When photographer Bridget Caswell sees a hospital room, she sees areas that may be remodeled from a grim medical area into the clubhouse of superheroes or the dressing room of a rockstar. She sees youngsters, who by all accounts ought to be unhappy, crammed with resilience and hope and spirit. 

Caswell has been a longtime volunteer photographer for Flashes of Hope, a program that gives youngsters battling most cancers with skilled photoshoots. For her, Flashes of Hope is greater than a company; it is a reflection of her coronary heart as each an artist and a human being: discovering and capturing gentle in even the darkest of locations.

Caswell’s love for images started over 25 years in the past, when she picked up a digital camera and knew immediately that this was her calling. Growing up in Ohio in a household of artists and musicians, she discovered her distinctive type of expression via the lens, combining creativity with a dedication to storytelling. “I always knew photography was my way of expressing myself,” Bridget shared. “It’s been my career for more than 25 years, and I’ve never not had a job in photography. It’s a blessing to live a life doing what I love.”

For Caswell, success in images is because of her work’s authenticity. Her recommendation to aspiring photographers is easy: put your self on the market and keep true to your imaginative and prescient.

Caswell’s journey with Flashes of Hope started in 2003. She had simply began as a photographer and was working for American Greeting Cards when she first met the founding father of Flashes of Hope. She had the chance to look at a really early photoshoot, seeing children battling most cancers gentle up in entrance of the digital camera. That parallel between pleasure and battle turned the muse of the group’s mission: bringing pleasure to youngsters battling most cancers via images.

Caswell was immediately drawn to that imaginative and prescient. “I loved the idea, the joy that it was bringing. And I really like to give back with my work,” she mentioned.

But on the time, volunteering wasn’t instantly doable. Flashes of Hope required volunteers to have their very own full studio gear, a steep funding for a younger photographer. Five years later, in 2008, after buying her first studio lighting setup, Caswell signed as much as volunteer. She’s been doing so ever since.

Her first shoot, nonetheless, got here with nerves she didn’t count on.

“The first time that I went in, I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. But it was so uplifting,” she mentioned. “Every family was full of joy and thankfulness… that was a really good lesson for me going into it.”

That expertise redefined what she thought she’d discover in hospital lobbies and pediatric oncology flooring. Rather than unhappiness or anger, Caswell discovered resilience, gratitude, and even laughter. One of her favourite recollections concerned a younger lady carrying a superhero cape. Together, they created a superman themed photoshoot. The print nonetheless hangs on Caswell’s wall.

Caswell feels that anybody who places themselves in entrance a digital camera is already susceptible. “I always try to make people feel very comfortable,” she mentioned.

She credit her background in images for her potential to attach with individuals and treats each household she images with care. She talks to them, jokes with them, and most significantly, helps them overlook even when only for a second why they’re within the hospital. She tries to make the expertise one thing they will look again on and bear in mind.

Recently, Caswell was photographing a promenade for teenagers with most cancers from native Cleveland hospitals. The occasion was a neighborhood collaboration with mascots from the Cleveland Guardians, Browns, and Monsters posing for photographs in a banquet corridor on the West Side of Cleveland remodeled right into a promenade venue, full with meals, music, and laughter.

“It was just really, really amazing,” she mentioned. “To see all these kids get to have this moment of joy… and to get to document that night. I’m really privileged in the work I get to do, and I get to capture people’s joy where you would not expect it.”

Caswell sees her position as not simply capturing photos however serving to to create recollections that give households one thing to carry on to even after the toughest days. She’s helped rework hospital lobbies into areas of celebration, full with make-up artists, hairstylists, and lights that for a second substitute IV poles and medical screens.

“I’ve been doing this since 2008,” she mirrored. “And I just hope that maybe when those families walk into those hospital spaces again, maybe that joyful memory we created will come back to them and make it a little less stressful.”

To be taught extra about volunteering for Flashes of Hope, go to right here. 
You can assist the work of Flashes of Hope, a program of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, by making a donation right here.