Free portraits for city’s less fortunate

WINNIPEG — In a world of smartphones, selfies and social media, many people have thousands of photos of themselves — but some of Winnipeg’s less fortunate have rarely stepped in front of a camera.

Jacqueline Roulette is no exception.

“It’s really nice to see myself smiling,” said Roulette, looking at a picture of herself. “They’re very good memories.”

Looking at the picture, she can see how far she’s come over the last few years.

“When I look at them, I can see there’s a big change in my life.”

Local photographers captured her smile and others during the annual Help Portrait campaign at Siloam Mission.

“It means a lot to them,” said photographer Jon Adaskin. “It’s a way for them to say, ‘today I’m doing okay.’

“When you’re looking in a mirror and you’re looking at yourself, you see you,” said Adaskin. “When you’re looking at a photo that I’ve taken of you, you’re looking at what I see in you. And that’s not always the same perception of what they might see in a mirror.”

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Professional photos were taken and printed off as keepsakes.

“I’m planning on giving them to my children and my grandchildren and make them a Christmas gift so they can have a photo of me,” said Nancy McIvor.

It’s an old-fashioned gift these days.

“They’re all on the computers now. You don’t see them in photo albums and things like that anymore,” said Dwayne Lucier, who hasn’t had his photo professionally taken since 1984, the year he graduated from high school.

“It’s a little intimidating, of course,” Lucier said, “but you just sit around and do what you have to do. Especially when they tell you pretend you’re a model,” he said, laughing.

The photos can be kept in the family for the generations to come.

“It sort of becomes a piece of history,” said Lucier, who will give one of his pictures to his dad.

For Roulette, her pictures mean someone can see her.

“At least somebody still cares out there,” she said.

Over the last four years, more than 20,000 photographers and 32,000 volunteers have captured more than 282,000 portraits. Help-Portrait happens across the globe, in more than 2,100 locations in 62 countries.