Joshua was born with a Vein of Galen Malformation.  He has a malformation in the blood vessels of his brain that steals blood from the rest of the brain.

 

He has had 6 strokes, left weakness, epilepsy, intellectual disabilities.  He is the eldest surviving child with his condition in Australia.  Joshua's condition is now considered progressive as he began deteriorating in 2012.

 

When Mette, Joshua's mum, shared his story and Joshua's dreams to be a basketball star, I knew immediately that we could help Josh live out that dream in picture form.

Knowing the restrictions Josh faced with his movement, I needed to plan carefully how we would achieve all of the captures that would come together to make it look like Joshua was dunking like Michael Jordan. 

With the help of the other Photographers, there to learn how to bring dreams to life, we worked through each individual limb pose with Josh. Due to Joshua's condition, he struggled with some of the movements on his left side, so in order to capture his arms at the right angle, we switched him over to the opposite side and I flipped the final shot in Photoshop.

Planning how to achieve the end goal with these heART Project images is a big part of establishing success. Ensuring that the subject is at ease and comfortable is so important. 

Following Joshua’s photo session, we went out to the oval area to capture photographs of Jess, the super dog, jumping for the ball. A selection of these photographs were used to create the final image of Jess jumping up to block the dunk.

I presented Joshua and Mette with his Story Art portrait. The response of joy and excitement has left me smiling from ear to ear. I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to create these special images for families that go through so much. Seeing their reaction, knowing how much these images mean to them, makes it all worthwhile.

I want to encourage those of you who would like to get behind The heART Project to head over to the offical website and register your interest. http://www.theheartproject.com.au

 

If you’d like to find out more about an upcoming heART Project workshop (where you can learn how to create these photoshop composites and make a difference in lives), please visit: http://storyart.com.au/items/the-heart-project-workshop-canberra/

Visit The Sebastian Foundation - http://www.thesebastianfoundation.org

Read more: http://storyart.com.au/joshua/