{Jackson's Smile} Give the gift of Smile; Buy a Photograph!

I love people! It’s because of my love for people that I became a wedding photographer in the first place. I photographed Daniel and Halle’s wedding a few years ago. Preceding news about their pregnancy was exciting but worrisome because of possible complications revealed by the ultrasound. It has been moving to watch as this family has struggled to care and nurture this beautiful little guy to health and stability. It hasn’t been an easy road and definitely not one that a young married couple anticipates when they become pregnant. However, It has been a beautiful tragedy; one that has grown the faith and love of Daniel, Halle and many of their family and friends.

Jackson's smile wasn't free like most little boys. He was born with a rare syndrome called “Simpson Golabi Behmel” as well as a cleft lip and palate. His smile has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars thus far. Jackson has already had two major surgeries in just his first year of life. He is destined for a childhood of plastic surgeries, not to mention other surgeries to address the various anomalies associated with his extremely rare syndrome.

In an effort to give more than just a few bucks, I have come up with this photography project -Jackson’s Smile. I decided that to GIVE BIG, I would ask my friends for help. Each month we will feature and sell beautiful photographs donated by some incredible photographers to raise money to offset the mountain of medical bills that result from giving Jackson the chance to have a healthy life; to have the chance to smile.

This month we are excited to feature the wonderful work of Jose Villa; a great photographer and a great friend of mine. When you get to know Jose you will discover that he is a generous and all around fantastic person -not to mention a wonderfully talented fine art film photographer! His inspiration comes from the beautiful countryside surrounding his home in the Santa Ynez Valley as well as his homeland around Guadalajara, Mexico. All of the images featured in Jose’s gallery were taken with his medium format Holga camera. These are just a few samples taken from his gallery.

We are so blessed to have so many people that want to be involved! My wonderful web designers 805 Collective, my fantastic print lab, ProDPI, and my friends over at NextProof have generously donated their time, software, and equipment to make all of this possible.

Now its up to you. Please subscribe to Jackson’s Smile so that you can keep up with news on Jackson’s progress and our featured photographer’s galleries over the coming year. Please support Baby Jackson and purchase a print or two!

*A portion of the proceeds will go directly to support more kids like Jackson at the Craniofacial Center at the Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas.