We're very proud to share a wonderful and powerful creative project called OUTSIDERS by Sara Ghedina. Sara is a Venice-based portrait photographer, who we're very grateful to have as an HSM Creative Member. Please enjoy Sara’s words and imagery below.

Cheers, Dwayne

I started this project in the summer of 2022. I wanted to gain more experience doing portraits. I was also interested in photographing people generally marginalized or living at the fringe of society (some topics I've always been drawn to). Since I am a portrait photographer and do studio work, I wanted to create a series consistent with what I typically do. I knew I wouldn't have a photojournalistic approach, even though I have a deep appreciation for photographers who do that kind of work.

I thought about different subjects, like immigrants, for example, or caregivers who take care of elderly people (here in Italy, they are often women who come from Eastern Europe, and we tend to forget they have a family and should have a life of their own outside work, as they essentially live full time with the person they are in charge of supporting). One of the challenges was to have access to a whole group at once instead of finding single individuals and doing their portraits one at a time, which may have taken months or even years. I told my idea to some friends, and one of them got me connected with a woman who is in charge of a drug rehabilitation program in a facility not far from where I live (CEIS in Campocroce, Treviso). We met, I told her about my project, and she loved it, not only because she felt the need to show these young adults in a different light but also as something they could really enjoy doing. She told me that one of the difficult aspects of the program - among millions of others - is that you constantly need to find activities to keep them engaged and that may spark their interest because of the risk of falling back and returning "to the streets" as they put it is always very strong.

I did my first series in August 2022. I photographed about 15-18 people and gave them three portraits each. I set up everything on location, had minimal equipment, and used a simple portable grey background and one beauty dish overhead.

I called the project OUTSIDERS because an outsider is someone who doesn't fit in, who lives on the fringe of society and is excluded from it, either by choice or by circumstances. But, more importantly, in sports language, an outsider also emerges or wins by surprise, even if they are not among the favourites. And I wanted to emphasize their willingness to win their battle and live a normal life again. With my pictures, I tried to give voice to their stories of suffering and redemption, stories that we often refuse to see because we are blinded by prejudice, have difficulty understanding them, or lack empathy.

The project was presented in late September during their traditional End of Summer Party when parents, relatives and members of the community visited the facility and offered their support. All the portraits were printed and showcased in a dedicated room, and I cannot tell you how many parents came to me with tears, thanking me for taking those pictures and giving their kids a different experience. Needless to say, I was really happy and moved myself.

I did the same thing in November last year, with new subjects and a different light/background setup. This time, I used two lights and a larger backdrop with props like a table and apple boxes to give the poses some variety.

I may volunteer to do it again in the following months. At this point, I became friends with the woman in charge of the program, and she loved it when I took the time to do it. I would love to keep the project going and have a more extensive series that could spark more interest.

And most of all, it's been a valuable experience for me as a person, I was somewhat worried in the beginning because I was afraid I wouldn't know what to say or how to interact with these guys, but really, I had no reason to, they were really into the project and we had a lot of fun. Some women came in before being photographed and were shaking, telling me they were nervous and couldn't keep still during the session. I had them close their eyes and breathe slowly to calm down, thinking about something beautiful and relaxing, like a sunny beach on the Mediterranean or a green meadow. And that gave me the idea of photographing some of them with their eyes closed as if they were imagining a different future for themselves.

Another challenge was that many of the guys were wearing large hoodies with giant logos and/or large sweatpants, which were not the most flattering clothes to photograph. I simply asked them to take the hoodies off and wear their t-shirt only, or, if they had tattoos (which most of them had), I asked them if they wouldn't mind taking the shirt off as well and show their ink and they were really happy to do, as in most cases their tattoos had some special meaning. Overall, it was a great experience, emotionally more than anything; I am really happy I had the opportunity to do it and inspire someone else to do the same as a way to deepen our empathy and kindness and to fight our own prejudices.

Sara Ghedina

To see more of Sara’s work, please visit her website at: www.saraghedina.com

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OUTSIDERS by Sara Ghedina

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