Enchanting Photos Share the Stories of Foster Children to Raise Awareness for Adoption
Inspired by his own experience as an adopted child, Detroit-based photographer Rob Woodcox wanted to shed some light on the foster system he was fortunate enough to avoid. Thus was born the photo series/project Stories Worth Telling.
The project came about after Cox graduated college, when his mother suggested he use his talents to volunteer at a foster camp. It was there at Royal Family Kids’ Camp that he did some reflection and realized just how different his life could’ve turned out had he not been adopted.
It was these reflections, in combination with the inspiration he got from helping with the children and watching them laugh and play, that led him to Stories Worth Telling.
Since foster children can’t be photographed, Woodcox has had to use other children for the images themselves. But despite the work-around, he made sure to honor in every way the lives and stories of the foster children these models represented.
Together, Woodcox and a group of friends started an IndieGoGo campain in hopes of setting up another Royal Family Kids Camp. They managed to raise an impressive $12,000 in 30 days, which helped put in motion one year of camp at a new location that has allowed 40 more children to participate.
Speaking recently with Flickr about the photo series and project, Woodcox said:
If any foster kids that inspired this series saw the ‘Stories Worth Telling’ images. I would hope that they would come away with a feeling of acceptance, a sense of place, and that seeing this series would encourage them to continue pushing, and living, and growing as individuals.
Here are a few of our favorite images Cox has created for this moving project:
To see more images from Woodcox and keep up with his future work, you can head on over to his website or check out his Flickr stream.
Image credits: Photographs by Rob Woodcox and used with permission
