These photographs are from my third day at Remedy Mission, which was Friday. It was a long day, being that I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and I got back home at 11:30 p.m. During my third day I had to change my strategy towards getting the photographs for Preemptive Love. Why? Because it was time to start covering more of the stories behind these cases, rather than just documenting the whole campaign. So, that day, I knew I had to focus on people, not just events; on details of their lives, rather than moments at the hospital.

After reviewing my photographs, I think I did OK for the first day of stories, and today I want to share a couple of tips on storytelling.

First of all, If you have to document an event such as Remedy Mission, it’s enough to take pictures for one or maybe two days, but if you want to keep yourself inspired and motivated to keep on shooting, you’ve got to start focusing on stories. If you only cover the event it will get really boring after a day or two, because you are missing the most important part of every event, the story behind it.

TIP 1: Always focus on the stories behind your subjects. That will open up a lot of new opportunities. You will discover the why, what, how from the subject or event itself.

Second. The best part of each the story begins when you have spent some time with your subject; interacting, talking, observing, and basically listening. You can still shoot some photos, but you will see that your better shots will come with the climax of those stories. These are the moments where the subject reveals their soul; when you have found the CONFLICT, the DRAMA.

TIP 2: Stick around, listening and learning, until you have found the core of the story, the drama, the conflict or sometimes called the PLOT.

Learn to be generous, kind, loving with your subject. When you are genuine in those areas, your subjects will appreciate it. In difficult moments, they love to be distracted by good people. Show them that you are there not only for the shot (BTW, you really should be able to offer more than just your photographic skills). In my case, it helps me to have two little boys. Any of these kids could be one of mine. They’re the same age, so it’s easy to put myself in the shoes of the parents, per se. Once you have had shown real compassion, then it will be easy to keep shooting. Barriers are destroyed, and you are free to do your job.

TIP 3: Show real compassion, and help when you can. You will receive the blessings of their generous heart; they will like to share those moments with you. They will let you document the difficult moments because you are already part of them.

These are short tips, but trust me, they are important. Now I want to show you some of these stories with just a few frames.

-This woman in Black was really difficult to photograph. You can see in my past posts that I shot her husband and little Noor. I showed them my respect because I started with the man. In this culture photographing a woman is an issue, but you can see that they trust me now, and they share moments such as this one.

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

-These are really simple photographs, but for me it was one of those key moments that I’ve been privileged to witness. This woman over here was really worried about her daughter. She was in surgery for hours, and the mom wasn’t getting any news from the local nurses. She kept asking, but received no answers. She was crying several times, but there was this precise moment, where, for a minute or two, she was staring at her daughter shoes. What was she was thinking? Who knows, but I promise they were fond memories. Those shoes were the only available link to her daughter.

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

-These, as you see, are moments where the parents are praying. In the case of Ahmed’s uncle, he even taught me how to do a Muslim prayer. After spending days beside him, he was now willing to open areas that are really private.

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

-Here you have some shots where I’m preparing to talk about Ahmed. This is from the day of his surgery, a 5.5 hours complex surgery. As you can see, Ricky Norris (videographer), the PLC crew, and myself have become a family during these days. In the last shot, you can see Ahmed looking for us before going to the O.R. (Operating Room).

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

-Finally, you have the intimacy of the O.R. Here, the opening moments belong to the doctors. I’m also working on the stories of some of them. What I wanted to convey in most of these shots are moments inside of that OR. For example, you have 3 shots were the American chief surgeon is teaching the local Kurdish surgeon. This is key, as Remedy Mission is trying to help the training of local doctors, so that in the long run the locals can perform these surgeries here. You also have important details, such as when the heart stopped beating on the monitor so that they can work on it, and the whiteboard where they write the description of this surgery.

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org

-This is not yet a story, but it will be one in a couple of days. This is the very first moment when this family came to the hospital and they are waiting to see the decision about their little girl.

© Heber Vega | Remedy Mission - www.preemptivelove.org