When an amazing and beautiful woman who is also an incredible dancer calls you up and asks, “Hey…you want to do some dance photos?”, you ALWAYS say yes.  So my friend Sarah called me this past winter during her break as she was passing through town.  I got to photograph her before she started school, and now she’s on her way to New York!  Needless to say, I loved getting to photograph someone as talented and skilled as her.  Look for her ripping through stages across the globe.

I sent out this little video to a lot of my friends, clients, and supporters a few days ago.  I’ll post a longer post with a more robust 2012 recap.  But to anyone that I left off the email, and to anyone else that has been in any way involved with my life or my work, here’s a little thank you from me to you.  Hope you enjoy it.

Click Here if you can’t see the imbedded video.

For most people, it’s not every day that you find yourself standing outside a van while a very prominent pimp is helping fix a blown out tire while a female prostitute has her arm around one of the other female passengers, being loved on while sipping on the coffee you gave her.  But this was my night the first time I went out with LightForce International for their street outreach.  When you work regularly with male, female and transvestite prostitutes, sometimes a pimp is the best option when you have a blown tire and no jack.  And while my Tuesday nights aren’t typically catching up with my friends as they work the streets and hustle the cars passing by, I loved being able to witness love being extended to persons who are the subject of trafficking, rape, mockery, disgust, and so many other forms of abuse.  Some friends who have been a part of this outreach had hard times processing what was going on, but I was overwhelmed not by the darkness, but by the love being poured out from both sides to bridge gaps, give grace, and show how we can have a little bit more of heaven on earth.  Check out Light Force International to see how you can be a part at www.lightforceintl.com.

Hitting the streets with LightForce

Conversations with friends, who happen to be prosititutes.

One of the transvestites was interested in taking English classes.

Happy Birthday singing to one of the other transvestites! She got cake a few days later.

So much of this industry is veiled and swept under the rug. That gives way when you actually get to know each person as a real person.

A 40-yr old prostitute who has been on the streets for over 20 years has her arm around her friend that is there to just love on her.

It’s amazing what a hot cup of coffee and a warm hug will do to tell someone that you love them.

The most surprising to me were the male prostitutes who seemed just like every day guys that loved playing futbol.

Even guys get trafficked and forced to sell their bodies, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Thankfully, the team at LFI are there to show a redemption to the streets that keep so many men, women and children in a hellish prison.

290 elementary students.
80 reported cases of abuse.
16 reported cases of rape.

That’s just what was reported.  In one class, 50% of the students had been sexually abused.  Yet on this day, there were 290 bright smiles and deafening laughter.  The principal of the school said he had never seen like this before, as he held back tears of thankfulness.  LightForce International, in conjunction with efforts from other organizations, churches and the school counselors, came to this elementary in a materially poor area to tell these children that they have value and worth and that they have every right to say no.  But along with this message, came games, crafts, snacks, healthy discussion, and hope.  To find out more about how you can get involved with LightForce International, check out their website at www.lightforceintl.com.

Teaching the 4 points

I have the right to say NO

children at risk

Creating paper ornaments with the teachings on them.

Coloring sheets to illustrate the 4 points

Coloring sheets to illustrate the 4 points

Every child loves to play.

Some of these haven’t laughed and played this much in years.

Face painting was the popular pace to be.

Even for the boys

One of the school counselors really poured herself out to talk to these kids during the Q&A session

Some of these questions were gut wrenching, but life was able to be spoken.

Hip-hop artist, Trip Lee, finished his Good Life tour in Dallas, TX on June 1st to a crowd of over 1000.  As the tour finale, Trip was joined with Collision Records artist, Swoope, along with fellow Reach Records artists, V-Rose, Jai, Andy Mineo, Alex Medina, KB, Tedashii, and Lecrae.  A special appearance was made by Tedashii’s son, after he ‘accidentally’ rapped Go Hard (one of his father’s tracks) over the speakers during Andy Mineo’s set.  To say the least, this show did not disappoint.  This was the perfect ending for a tour celebrating Trip’s latest album, The Good Life.

Trip Lee during sound check

Trip Lee observing sound check from the audience

Backstage, getting ready

Pre-game encouragement and prayer

Swoope's set

Andy Mineo during his song, "Let There Be Light"

Andy Mineo 1-1-6

Tedashii & Lecrae getting some air during a throwback to Tedashii's "Go Hard"

Alex Medina on the mic

Trip Lee in the smoke

Trip spitting his rhymes

Tedashii's son wanted to come out on stage

So he did during the encore

The Good Life....get it now.

Espresso, Steamed Milk, Baristas, and Art. Get all of those together with a little competition and you have the TNT Barista Jam! Over a year ago, I attended my first Barista Jam at Oddfellows (see my blog post about it).  So I came back at the beginning of this month to document the actual competition. Lotta caffeine that night…

The crowd awaits at Oddfellows

Preparing the espresso shots

Working side by side

Steaming the milk with the La Marzocco

Pouring the design

Final touches...

The judges await for the designs

1...2....3....Choose!

Final design....so tasty

You can see more pictures from the night on my Facebook page.

“When you are a parent, you lose sleep when you don’t know what is wrong with your child and you don’t know how to help.  For the past 6 months, I have not been able to sleep because I didn’t know what I could do for my son.  But now you have given my son help, so next time you see me, I will be a much fatter man!” (Because he’ll be able to sleep now).

“Before I came here, I didn’t think there was any hope for either of my children.  I just wanted the best for them, but I didn’t think they could be helped.  But now you have given them hope for their future.  Thank you so much. God bless.”

These were just some of the things said to the CLASP International team and the ENT Clinic Staff at Kijabe Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya.  For 2 weeks, we saw dozens of patients needing audiology exams and were able to provide several with new hope for life with solar powered hearing aids.  The lives of young and old alike were given new hope because the simple joy of hearing the sounds of everyday life were now available to them.

The stories don’t end there, however.  Not only were the immediate lives impacted, but through the masters level programs that CLASP is implementing in conjunction with the local universities, even more lives stand to be impacted through Kenyans who have been given this specialized training.  So yes, several Kenyans can now hear, but through the long-term projects being implemented, generations ahead can look with hope to being able to hear and speak or have access to specialed care.

In August of 2011, I went with CLASP International to Lusaka, Zambia to film the work they are doing over there. To catch you up, they are implementing a Masters Level program to train Zambian speech pathologists so they can go throughout their country to provide for much needed services to children and adults with disabilities. While we were there, we helped establish the sites where clinicals will be held for students, so I got to be a part of the amazing work that CLASP is doing. Go visit www.CLASPInternational.org to see what they’re doing. You’ll also be able to watch the 2 videos I produced for them.

Some things are meant to be compared...

Today’s post is one of those Preach To Myself posts.  It’s one of those lessons that, while I know it well, I still have to continue to live out well.  So if you think I’m writing about you, you’re wrong.  This is one of those talking to myself, but out loud to the world kind of moments.

There’s nothing more suffocating, more soul-sucking, more poisonous than comparing yourself to others.  It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the web of looking at what everyone else is doing.  ”Hey, look at what Photographer X is shooting!” “Look at how much money Photographer Y is making.”  ”What great opportunities always come up for Photographer Z!” Meanwhile, you’re stuck there thinking, “Wait…why am I not there?”  That’s around the start of what I like to call “The Cycle of Suck”.  We all know that cycle, right?  It’s the one where you start looking at what one photographer is doing, and you get depressed that that’s not you.  Then you keep looking at other photographers until you realize everyone that you just stalked is doing something that you’d like to be doing but you’re not.  And you get more depressed.  Then you find yourself laying on the couch with no lights on, drinking cheap red wine out of the box with an almost empty bag of Cheeto’s, while watching some old 80′s kung fu flick.  You’ve done that before, right?  No?  Yeah, me either.

Anyways, for some reason, I got that feeling today.  I started thinking about what other photographers were doing, and I got a little bit jealous, then a bit down on myself.  This time, however, didn’t lead to any orange cheese stains on the couch.  I reminded myself that I’m not necessarily in the same fields as Photographer X, Y, and Z (and I may not even want to be).  But the old adage that says something like “Great work will get noticed” provided me an opportunity.  If I’m not where I want to be, then I sure as hell better get back to producing as much Awesome as I can manage.  When you’re working your tail off to capture great images and telling amazing stories, there’s not a lot of time to sit around and mope and complain about how you’re not this or that.  Whiners and complainers and self-deprecating Eeyore’s are wasting their time griping when they could be working on being better than they are or at least seeing the world better than they do.

So there you have it Self.  Get off the couch, stop drinking crappy wine, and get busy producing Awesome.

Today I head to Zambia. 10 years ago I was in Zimbabwe for my first time on that side of the Atlantic. I remember thinking about how awesome it was to be on this once in a lifetime trip. Ten years later this will now be my 5th time in Africa in as many countries. Even if we zoom in on the timeframe, just last year I made it a goal to get out of the country twice a year. This will be my 3rd of potentially 4 trips this year. Who would’ve ever imagined that I would be where I am? Definitely not me. I count it a blessing and am eager to see what may come in the next year.

But for now, I depart for Zambia to produce a video on the amazing work that CLASP International is doing.

I’ll see you guys when I get back!

Cheers!
Paul Go