If you’re looking for a Dallas family photographer, hello! I’m so happy you found me here on this corner of the internet. I’m Rachel, the artist and photographer and the namesake of Rachel Friedman Photographer. Please read on and learn about my work and my why. Family photography is so important, and I’d love to connect with you to hear about YOUR story. If you have questions or want more information about capturing your family’s portraits, please contact me here, via email at rachelfriedman1@gmail.com or call me at 440-821-5999.
Why? Why do we take these photos, getting all dressed up and going to a location suggested by your photographer and go through these motions? Of course, there’s the immediate and obvious answer. You might be a Dallas mom looking to get a beautiful photo to share for your annual holiday card. Or perhaps you’re looking at your kids and seeing that they just WON’T STOP GROWING. They’re getting big fast, and you want to document the phase they’re in. I get that. I do the same.
But I want to share one family’s story that fully encapsulates why this matters. Please let me introduce you to Kelly and Miguel Cervantes. They had one adorable son, Jackson, and then a few years later, Kelly gave birth to a baby girl, Adelaide. By the time Adelaide was six months old, they realized she wasn’t meeting her physical milestones, and at 7 months old, right around the time her dad was auditioning to win the role playing Alexander Hamilton in the Hamilton musical in Chicago, Adelaide had her first set of seizures.
Adelaide, age 2, with father Miguel Cervantes, who plays Hamilton in the Chicago production.
Adelaide was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms, a severe form of epilepsy. And in the same whirlwind, their family moved from New Jersey to the midwest, as dad was taking on a new role as Hamilton. I met their family for Adelaide’s second birthday photos. At that time, she was just losing her ability to smile but was still a bit alert and able to engage with her parents and big brother with her eyes for their family session.
Their photos launched a fundraising campaign for CURE: Citizens United Against Epilepsy, but more important, these photos documented what they wouldn’t know at the time to be the middle of Adelaide’s life. At the time, mom and dad could have never guessed how long their daughter would be able to continue to fight a collection of health issues, some diagnosed like Infantile Spasms and some mysterious.
Adelaide passed away last Saturday, just a few days before her fourth birthday. She was a resilient little girl with a fierce spirit, and her story has moved so many as her parents have shared their story and used their celebrity status to raise awareness and funds for research in Epilepsy.
But while these photographs were created with a fundraising project in mind, I guarantee that in the end, regardless of how many people were reached in campaigns (and how many received the family’s favorite image in an annual holiday card), they’ll be treasured most by mom, dad and big brother, who could never have imagined just how soon they’d lose their little girl.
Photographs matter because they are part of your legacy. While no one expects something this tragic, there are stories everyday of parents and children facing unexpected tragedies and critical diagnoses. We don’t know what the future holds, and one day, whether we die young or live to 100, we want our children and grandchildren and GREAT grandchildren to be able to carry on our stories. Photo sessions can create that one gorgeous shot for a card, but they can also capture connections, feel the love, laughter and tears we share together as a family. That love matters. Photos matter.
In 2017, Rachel Friedman Photography was proud to raise over $1500 for CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, as one of the beneficiaries of our annual holiday studio fundraising event. If you’d like to donate in Adelaide’s memory, please visit https://www.cureepilepsy.org/adelaide.