New Friends

My sister (Isabel) and I were at an antique shop in LaGrange a couple of weeks ago taking pictures, when we bumped into a very nice lady named Vicki. She saw us with our cameras and asked us if we would be interested in taking photos of their Senior Residents at the Bishop Conway Residence in Chicago. Isa and I both said "Yes!" with excitement and with a huge smile on our face. We were so honored to be asked because we knew it would give us a chance to expand our portfolios. We picked a date to meet... Isa was not able to make it but she's very excited to go on the 2nd date. :)

When I arrived it was early afternoon and lunch was being served. I was greeted at the door by Vicki and Ricky and I followed them to the office where I met Gaby and Kindle. They were all very friendly and great to work with. I was very excited to get started, I put my coat down and Ricky gave me a tour of the building. After the tour we headed toward the dining hall to meet my models. :) I was surprised to see a packed room of people. Ricky introduced me to the seniors and also to the young volunteers that came out from the University of St. Thomas. While meeting everyone I thought to myself of how cool it was to see the a young group of students spending their spring break having lunch, playing board games, cleaning and stocking items in the storage room for the seniors. They came all the way from Minneapolis to volunteer... seriously how cool is that? Super cool!

After the games we said goodbye to the students and moved over to the T.V. room. I then took advantage of the moment and spoke to the seniors one-on-one and took some portraits of them. We had great conversations about life, family and pretty much everything.

  

Small details in life are important. I saw this toy truck on a table in one of the rooms, I just had to stop and take a photo.

Here's another photo I couldn't pass up either.

One of the many things that I love about photography is that I meet a lot of wonderful people that start off as strangers but end up being good lifetime friends. I gained so much from today's visit here at the Bishop Conway Residence. I look forward in seeing them again very soon. I walked in with my camera and walked away with new friendships, love, and feeling very happy. :)

xoxo,

jenny m. chavez