Hurricane Harvey not only impacted South and Southeast Texas, but Texas as a whole. People from all across the great state as well as the world felt its impact, which is why Austin-based photographer Julia Robinson felt the need to offer her services to those affected.
As a photojournalist and multimedia producer, Robinson travels all over Texas photographing and producing content for editorial, corporate and non-profit clients. As a member of the Austin Photo Night group, Robinson and other photojournalist and freelance photographers meet once a month to catch up and show their work. When Harvey hit, Robinson and her colleagues within the group were sent to Southeast Texas for coverage of the storm.
Robinson recalls a family in Dickinson, Texas who had lost all of their photographs. “We saw a family who had every single one of their photographs drying out on their lawn,” said Robinson. “It made me immediately think of the thousands of families who were going through the same thing, losing the memories they had documented over the years.”
With that in mind, Robinson and five other photographers from the Austin Photo Night group decided they wanted to help. “We may not be able to offer money to these people who lost so much, but we can offer memories,” she said.
Members of the group, along with The Church Lab, set up the Fam Photo Frenzy for families who lost their photographs. On November 25, Robinson and her colleagues offered free 30-minute photo sessions for those affected.
“Photographs have a special place in our heart, said Robinson, it is what we do. If we can help these families by taking their pictures, then we are happy to do so.”
This event showcased the true heartbeat of Texas. Strangers helping others to get back to some type of normalcy after a tragic event. The act of taking a picture may seem somewhat routine, but to those who lost those memories now get to create new ones.
