Special Photo Series

One of the children whose photo is part of the Superhero Project.

A woman, who lives in Bellingham, Washington, has taken on a unique project that utilizes her talents. Renee Bergeron is photographer who specializes in newborn and birth photography. She is also raising a large family (with husband), consisting of 14 children (5 adopted), 10 of whom still reside at home.

Renee's youngest child, Apollo, was born with a double aortic arch (the main artery from the heart to the rest of the body), requiring major heart surgery. Even that wasn't easy for the family, since it was found that he also had a compressed esophagus, from the double arches taking up so much space in his chest. That meant that the normal way most people eat was not available for this young boy, since the passage was too narrow to allow most food to move to his stomach. A feeding tube, placed directly into the stomach was critical to allow her child to get needed nutrition.



When one child has special needs, life changes for a family. There is necessary focus on the care needed for a child who is different and needs more from the parents. It is also more expensive, since multiple surgeries and special education, among additional needs, can add to the cost of caring for the child.

So, when Renee was photographing her son, Apollo, dressed as a super hero, she noticed the effect on his spirit. There was a change, a confidence evident. She wanted to be able to share some of that experience with other families, who had special needs children. Thus, THE SUPERHERO PROJECT was born.

It was part of Renee's business, but it wasn't. It was a service offered by her photography business, but she charged no money for it. She was particularly interested in that change that happened with her son, Apollo, that resiliency and strength that shines through.

How does the photo shoot help the parents? According to Renee, "[T]he response from the parents has been overwhelmingly positive. They have told me I have been able to capture their child like never before on camera and that they felt like they saw their children's inner strength shine through in the photos."

 So, why provide this session at no cost to the families? As Renee says, "I decided to offer these sessions free of charge because I know from experience having special needs kids is expensive....I knew it would not be in the budget for many of these families to splurge on custom photography. And aside from that, many of these kids (like the ones with autism) can be difficult to photograph, so some of these parents have had unpleasant experiences in the past with professional photography."

Fairies can be superheroes, too.

Sometimes, it takes someone who has been there, who has walked in similar shoes, to understand situations that other families also undergo, to provide a service that will brighten their lives.

Apollo (left) and his older brother.

Thanks to this article from HLN TV: http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2015/05/04/superhero-project-special-needs-kids-gallery; and this blog article from Renee Bergeron about her son: http://bakersdozenandapolloxiv.com/apollos-story-double-aortic-arch/.

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