Posted on by Krista Guenin

Zimbabwe – Day 3, part 1

It’s been 2 months since I returned from Zimbabwe! I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone – it’s just insane what the holidays will do to you… Anyway, I’ve finished my first round edit of the entire 2-week shoot – and I’ve narrowed it down from almost 10,000 images to under 7,000. I wish I could share all of the pics with you, but, um, you’d probably get bored after the first 1,000 or so :) So, instead, I’m going to go back and finish telling you about my trip. I’ll pick up right where we left off, with Day 3…

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On day 3 we headed into Bulawayo to visit the Christian Leadership Resource Center. The CLRC is dedicated to equipping local pastors. They have a library of books & videos, AIDS education resources, computers (sometimes with internet connection), and a staff to assist. They even have a section where the general public can come to get information about AIDS/HIV. It’s a partnership of the Theological College of Zimbabwe, and supported in part by Forgotten Voices International. It’s an excellent resource for the church leaders in the area.

The Christian Leadership Resource Center


The Library


And this is just the cool address marker out front

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After we visited the CLRC, we stopped by the Bretheren In Christ Church offices downtown to visit Bishop Danisa Ndlovu. Ryan calls Danisa his Zimbabwean Father. This man is not only the Bishop of the BIC in Zimbabwe, but he’s also a devoted family man with a contagious smile and an awesome sense of humor. It was great to meet him and talk with him a bit about the BIC’s ministry throughout Southwest Zimbabwe.

Bishop Danisa Ndlovu


A map in the Bishop’s office marking 2 of the BIC missions South of Bulawayo – Matopos & Mtshabezi. We visited the Matopos Secondary School briefly on Day 8, on our way to spend a few days at the Mtshabezi mission. You’ll see tons of photos from Mtshabezi in upcoming posts…


This was an incredibly busy day, so check out the rest of the story in the next post…

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I know it’s a bit delayed, but I did want to wish everyone who reads this blog happy holidays! It’s been a crazy season and I have MUCH to blog about in the coming days and weeks. I hope and pray that you all have had a wonderful season with your friends and families, and that the year ahead will be wonderful as well! I think that 2008 is going to be a big year, and I absolutely can’t wait to see what God has in store. And I can’t wait to share it with all of you who check in to my little blog to see what’s new :)

Many blessings, and Happy New Year!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 3 Comments

Sarah & Allie

Right after Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to photograph Sarah & Allie. Sarah & Allie are sisters, and their Dad leads worship and is an elder at my church. His wife thought it would be a great surprise to have photos of the girls taken for him for Christmas. So, they came over to my place on “Black Friday” and we had some fun! Since it was a surprise, I couldn’t share them with you until after Christmas, but now that the cat’s out of the bag – check ’em out!!

Sarah & Allie laughing it up in the warm glow of the sunset. The sunlight was warm, but the air outside was COLD – they were such good sports!!

A slighty more vintage version of the same scene

and cross-processed…

Allie in the sun

And Sarah

Eventually, we had to put jackets back on to keep them from freezing. Here’s a couple shots against the back of my house.



Sarah joked about climbing the tree in my back yard, and I wasn’t about to let her get away without actually doing it! Allie got up there too, and the shots ended up being some of my favorites from the day! (don’t you just love that barn next door in the background?!)



Finally, their noses were getting all red and my fingers were getting numb, so we headed inside. I don’t have a studio in my apartment, but I do have some awesome wallpaper in the hallway – so that’s where we shot :)



And for the last shots of the day, we headed to the kitchen. See, Allie & Sarah are AMAZING cooks – or bakers, rather. So, my original idea was to get them cooking in their kitchen. Since it was a surprise for Dad, and he was at the house, we made do with looking at cookbooks in my kitchen instead. My kitchen is small, but right at sunset, it has the most beautiful light!


All in all, it was a really fun shoot! Thanks Sarah & Allie for being such good sports and for making my job so easy :) I hope your Dad loved his Christmas present!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 5 Comments

Photo Biz Boot Camp

Wow! It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here! Just when I thought I was about as busy as it gets with finishing up jobs in time for the holidays – I spent much of last week at Photo Biz Boot Camp. Liana Lehman came up from Atlanta and spent 3 days with 8 of us from 7 studios in the area going over the business side of photography and helping each of us develop some goals for the coming year and beyond. It was incredible and I am SO glad I was able to go (thanks to a scholarship from Davina Fear)! I have so much going on in my head and I need to take some more time to get it all out on paper and make some plans for the coming months. Now that all jobs are up online and prints have been ordered, I can’t wait to take a few days to process and plan ahead!

Here are some photos from our last day of camp…

Matt Grazier workin’ it for the camera


Enna Grazier looking like HOT STUFF!

Matt & Enna having their portrait taken by Liana


Maureen Ford being photographed by, um, everyone


Eric Laurits, aka :e: in between shots


Meghan Thomas – one of the few of us who actually seems to like having her picture taken

Lauren Rutten laughing it up, enjoying life, thinking about the “darkroom,” I’m sure ;)
(ah, you had to be there…)

Amanda Harris playing with the Grazier’s puppy, Jackson

Liana working it Santa-style for Enna and Eric

Thank you for coming all the way up to Boston to be with us, Liana! You are a great teacher and an absolute blessing! And thanks to each of my fellow photographers – for being such an encouragement to me! I’m so glad to have met each of you and can’t wait for that follow-up session on the cruise ship next year :)

I’m really excited about the next year in my business and I can’t wait to see what happens when I start putting all of this into action. Big changes will be coming, so stay tuned…

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

A Day at the Fells

A few weeks ago, I photographed a family from my church. This family is awesome and so unique! Doug & Neilani have an amazing capacity to love. They recently had a baby, Ezekiel who they call Zeke (isn’t that a great name?). But, they also have 3 teenage boys who they adopted from Haiti! This is one of the most diverse families I’ve ever photographed, or known for that matter. It’s just so awesome to see how they have opened their homes and hearts in obedience to God and have built a wonderful family in the process.

So, Neilani & Doug had me come along as they took the boys for a walk in the Fells near their home. It was a great Fall day – sunny & warm – and the woods were a great backdrop for our shoot. Check it out…

Here’s baby Zeke laughing as we tromp through the woods.

Here are the older boys, heading through the trees…

…and coming out at the pond where we planned to shoot.

And posing for the camera
It was really cool to see these 3 big teenage boys hanging out and playing with their little brother. They’re totally sweet with him – and don’t they make a handsome bunch?

Neilani & Zeke hanging out by the pond

Doug & Zeke back at the house

This is Sheku. He was totally camera shy and did not want his picture taken! But he loosened up after a while :)


This is Paul. Totally cute and very comfortable smiling for the camera!

And then there’s Ephesien. This guy was like a professional model – he just kept posing for me. It was great!

He even took me over to the soccer field by their house for some shots of him in his element…


It was a great afternoon hanging out with you guys! Thanks so much for trusting me with your memories!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

Demian, Elizabeth & Esalina

While I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, I was able to spend some time with my friends Elizabeth & Demian, and their adorable little girl, Esalina. Elizabeth was a bride at the studio I used to work for in Chicago, Real Life Weddings, and then she joined us as an employee for about a year. After working with her as a bride and then as a co-worker in the studio, we also worked together on my website. (don’t blame her for the Coming Soon pages though – those are waiting on me to choose my favorites :) Elizabeth is an all-around great person, and her family is just adorable.

Check out these shots from our portrait session last year…



So, anyway, we figured that while I was in town we should get together for photo shoot!

We started the morning at their apartment on the North side of Chicago. I hadn’t seen Esalina in about a year, so we spent a bit of time at the beginning helping her warm up to me. Mom & Dad did a great job keeping her entertained and happy.



After we played at the house, we went for a walk down to the beach. It was a beautiful day at the Lakeshore and Esalina loves the beach!



Lina loves throwing sand into the water!




Despite our best efforts, Lina still fell into the water :) Luckily, Elizabeth was prepared with another cute outfit.


Isn’t she a doll?!


Thanks for a fun shoot you guys! It was great to see you all again – let’s do it again next year!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

World AIDS Day

In light of my recent trip to Zimbabwe, I was excited to hear about an event going on this weekend here in Boston, and around the US – World AIDS Day. Check it out below and I hope you can make it!

6000 children are orphaned each day by AIDS… so our goal is to raise 6000 dollars, and get 6000 petitions signed.


World AIDS Day
Saturday, December 1st, 2007
10:00am-3:00pm (open event)
Government Center, Boston, MA

Live music/performances from local bands supporting the cause, as well as some traditional performances by cultures impacted by the AIDS pandemic. A speaker will be there for a very informal briefing on how the AIDS pandemic has affected life today. Sign petitions at our booth to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). There’ll be boxes to give small donations, even change, and what not. There will also be a table with a Worldvision rep in case anyone feels compelled to sponsor a child. Chalk will be provided so you can chalk up Government Center with huge messages and notes to tell the world that the city of Boston cares. An aerial photo will be taken at the end of the day.

World AIDS Day is sponsored by World Vision. For more information on World AIDS Day events near you, go here.

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 6 Comments

Shelton, Margret & Concilia – Zimbabwe Day 10

Ok, Ok! So, I’m going out of order – so sue me! :) The truth is, I can’t go any further with this without telling you about Shelton, Margret & Concilia. When I think about my trip, I think about these 3 kids. When I pray for Zimbabwe, I think about these 3 kids. And when people ask me “how was your trip?” – I think about these 3 kids.

So, here’s the story…

When the team was in Mtshabezi, at the BICC Mission, we did quite a few home visits – meeting with many of the people who they work with at the BICC AIDS Project. This particular day was quite hot, long, and emotionally challenging. We met with 4 families that day, and attended one funeral (which I’ll share about another day). After the funeral, we went to one of the local primary schools, and picked up Shelton, Margret & Concilia so we could see their home and interview them. I have a hard time photographing and being a good listener, so I have to admit that I don’t have all of the details on these kids – but that’s what video’s for! Hopefully my team can fill in some of the gaps (or correct my mistakes)

Shelton (8) & Margret (10) are brother & sister, and Concilia (11?) is their cousin. The three of them live in the home they used to share with their mothers, who were sisters. And they live alone. Shelton, as the “man” of the family, is the child head of household. Their Grandmother lives nearby, but they actually live alone. I think that both of their mothers died of AIDS, and now the BICC AIDS Project helps them by paying their school fees, providing some food when possible, and sending them to pscyho-social support camps during school breaks. The AIDS Project is supported, in part, by Forgotten Voices and is making a huge difference in the lives of these kids, and 1700 others in the area.

This is their homestead, which includes a kitchen (on the right) and a small bedroom (left) and no bathroom or other sheltered space.

The girls leading us onto the property.

This is their kitchen. Notice that there are no chairs, no tables, and gaping holes in their roof. Please also note that it is now RAINY SEASON in Zimbabwe…

This is absolutely the thing I think about most when I think about these kids. See that bowl of greens in the photo below? Those are weeds they’ve gathered from the bush surrounding their home. That’s all that they eat when they’re at home. Thankfully, their school is able to provide 1 meal per day because their school is supported by a project through World Vision. The meals at school don’t include meat, and this is all they have outside of school. This is what I’m thinking about while I’m eating my dinner, and when I see food being thrown into the garbage. And this is what makes me think that while we’re doing a lot to help these kids, we aren’t doing enough yet.


We interviewed them in the kitchen and asked them all sorts of questions about their life and about what they want for their future. I can’t for the life of me remember what they each said they wanted to be when they grow up – but maybe one of my team mates can leave a comment below letting us know? I was so distracted by that bowl of weeds that it was all I could do to keep taking photos and not start bawling – so apparently I didn’t listen to the whole interview.


After the interview, we were also able to pray for the children, and then take a tour of their homestead.

This is the room that they share – which has a leaky roof as well. The girls sleep with Shelton in the middle (on a pile of blankets on the floor), and the oldest sleeps closest to the door. You can see how much they protect and take care of each other.


And this is their garden.

With very little rain so far this year, and seeds hard to come by, you can see that not much is growing in here.


Near the garden, just outside the fence of the homestead are 2 graves. The kids’ mothers are buried here.


But, these kids are still just normal kids. Laughing, playing…

The girls thought it was HILARIOUS when Obert (who works on the AIDS Project, and who you’ll hear much more about in another post) tried jumping rope too.


But these kids don’t just get to laugh, and play, and do homework and have fun – like most kids in America. These kids have to take care of one another, take care of their home, do all of the chores, gather food, collect seed pods to use as candles, bathe themselves, wake up on time, walk 2 hours to get to school each day, and know that their parents are gone.




My heart aches for these kids, and I pray for them every day. Would you join me in praying for them as well?

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Zimbabwe, Day 2

On Day 2 in Africa, Adam & I arrived in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. We were both a bit nervous about going through security & customs with all of our gear. The Zimbabwean government doesn’t like journalists very much, and we were just praying that they wouldn’t think we were journalists. Praise God, we made it through without any trouble!! Ryan & Trevor met us outside customs and welcomed us to Zimbabwe. It was nice to finally arrive at our destination after 40+ hours of traveling! Ryan & Trevor had been in Zambia checking out some potential new projects, and had just driven to Zimbabwe the night before – so they were pretty excited to be there as well.

Ryan drove us into Bulawayo and explained that we couldn’t photograph any government buildings and should be careful not to let anyone see our cameras. Anyone in the CIO (Zim’s version of our CIA) could be on the streets in plain clothes, and would probably assume that we were journalists. So, for the most part, I kept my camera down and I never really got many shots of the city :(

Our first stop was at a friend’s place, where we gassed up the car and exchanged some money. Check out this fat wad of cash he gave us!! Don’t get too excited – that 50,000,000 Zim dollars only equates to $50 US! It was just crazy carrying around that much cash – even though their largest bill ($200,000) is only worth about 20 cents! Zim is currently at something like 13,000% inflation! It’s just nuts!



After a quick lunch, we headed to the Theological College of Zimbabwe (TCZ – or TCZed as it’s called in Zim). TCZ’s Hilltop Campus is located in an old hotel and includes housing for some of the students. It’s a very cool facility, and the college and its graduates are the core of Forgotten Voices’ work on the ground in Zim.


Ryan had a meeting with the president of TCZ, Victor Naka and John Stomboli. So, Adam & I got straight to work, filming and photographing everything that was going on. They talked for a while, and then took us on a tour of the campus. Out back behind the housing, they’ve begun a garden based on the principles of Farming God’s Way. FGW was started by a man named Pierre (who you’ll see later in the trip), and is an amazing farming technique that produces an insane amount of food in a small space. It’s TCZ’s goal to teach their students Farming God’s Way so they can take it back to their churches and communities. The gardens can then be used to feed families, and even make money on crop sales. It’s a geniusy plan, if you ask me.

Adam at work:
Victor Naka:
Ryan, Trevor, and John touring the Farming God’s Way plot (check out the sweet light and the crazy sky – it was gorgeous!!)
After our visit to TCZ, Ryan took us “home.” We stayed at his friend Warren King’s home outside Bulawayo. We like to call it the “King Compound” since Warren’s parents and siblings also have homes on the property. It is a gorgeous place (more pics later) and was a welcoming and warm home base for us while we were in town. The Kings were still in South Africa when we arrived, but their housekeeper, Miriam made us feel very welcome and made us a delicious dinner. That night, we were able to relax, charge batteries, rest and even have a bit of fun. It was a good first day in Zimbabwe.

Here’s a shot of Ryan playing in the King’s backyard…