Atlanta is in the top 3 cities in the United States for human trafficking, and spends most of its time at #1. Just a few facts:
- There are 495 girls exploited in Metro Atlanta every month.
- Of those 495, it’s known that 100 of them on a nightly basis are sold for sex.
- The Georgia Demand Study estimates that 7,200 men pay for sex with adolescent females in Georgia each month.
- Forty-two percent of men who pay for sex with adolescent females come from the north Metro Atlanta region located outside of I-285.
And that’s where I live.

Shocked? Surprised? Whether you choose to believe it or not, it’s true. As for me, I can’t hear this and then choose to do nothing.

I have had the privilege of shooting for organizations in India and Cambodia that are working to fight against sex trafficking, but knowing what was going on in my own city made me want to dream on how I could leverage my gifts, abilities, and platform to raise awareness and make an impact here at home. I am providing Metro Atlanta brides and grooms an opportunity to partner with me and choose that their Love Gives Way to the recovery and restoration of these girls.

The wedding day is set apart for the couple to celebrate their loving relationship and solidify their commitment towards each other. OneNine Images came up with the idea to use this day as a platform to shed light and impact the everyday lives of these girls who are trapped in a world so different from that picture: sex trafficking. The hope is that one day these girls may be restored and someday experience what true love looks like.

So here is the goal: I plan to shoot 30 weddings from December 2011 – December 2012 offering a special Love Gives Way package, and part of this package price includes a donation of $500 that will go directly to Wellspring Living for a combined impact of $15,000. All other package details can be found in the PDF at the bottom of this post.
For this campaign, I am partnering with Wellspring Living, a non-profit organization aiding in the rehabilitation and restoration of women and girls who have been sexually abused or exploited. Their vision states: Wellspring Living desires to be the worldwide leaders in sustainable life transformation of women and girls by offering personalized care that transcends the individual and impacts the community. There is no better organization to partner with in the fight against human trafficking in our city. The $15,000 that we raise together will be able to provide for the recovery process for 1 girl through their Wellspring For Girls Victory Program.

Also, Blake Canterbury with BeRemedy has chosen to partner with this campaign. The goal at BeRemedy is to connect those in need with those who can help using social media as a tool. With that in mind, we want your guests to come on board with you and make a difference as well, so we will provide you with a registry filled with items the girls who are currently in the Victory Program need.
And finally, as a thank you, each bride and groom will receive Love Gives Way t-shirts as well as a custom piece of jewelry specially designed and created for the Love Gives Way campaign by my incredibly gifted friends at Mickey Lynn Jewelry.

To learn more about what else is included and to inquire about how you can become a Love Gives Way couple, contact me through email: andy@onenineimages.com

Please help us spread the word as well through facebook, twitter, your blog/website, and of course sharing with your friends you know will be getting married! Download the Loves Gives Way PDF here.

I’m excited to see the impact this will have over the next year and half in the fight against human trafficking in our city. Thanks for your partnership!

I’ve been working on this personal project for about 8 months now and have close to 35 tattoo images. The goal is to have a portfolio of all these images once I build out a new site which will hopefully be sooner than later.
However, I want to start sharing a few of the images and at least let the world know I am working on it.

This personal project is called MARKED. The concept is this: We experience joy, anger, love, bitterness, loss, remorse, beauty, grace, and a truck load of other emotions. As a result, we are left MARKED by life and for some, we choose to be MARKED by ink to remember those things. They serve as reminders, memorials, tributes, achievements. But they also serve as beautiful pieces of art that walk past us every single day. We don’t always get to appreciate the art and hear their stories. So, this project seeks to do just that – share stories and reveal beautiful art that often goes unnoticed.

If nothing else, hopefully it encourages you to take a minute and ask that stranger whose sliver of ink you see sneaking out past their sleeve what the meaning of their art is. Sometimes you will find “that guy” or “that girl” who was just drunk and thought that a shamrock, Elmo, unicorn, or barbed wire fence around their bicep was super awesome and unique – and who knows, maybe the person with that tattoo actually does have a story attached to it with actual meaning. But, a lot of the time you will find a grateful person honored that someone took the time to notice, listen, and appreciate.

The tricky part with this project is that I am seeking to shoot all of them on a white seamless – so, that means I am either waiting on studio time, having people come to my house, or driving around with a white sheet of paper in my car I can tape up on a wall somewhere indoors. It would be too easy to just shoot the tattoo wherever I met the person. I desire to have a meaningful encounter with each person where I give them the time and attention that their tattoo and story deserves. Plus, I desire to light each one uniquely, which is proving to be a challenge.

Here are a few of the 35 I have so far to start. Hope you enjoy the project and hope even more that you pass it along to your friends who have tattoo’s with meaningful stories behind them.

“Redemption” – My great grandfather was a missionary in Japan before WWII and he was also a writer whose journals were beautiful. About three years ago, we found a poem that articulated how I felt about God more than anything I’ve ever been able to say. He was also the person I’ve always wanted to emulate as a person and follower of God.

“Family First” – After my father died at the age of 5, and my mother was murdered at the age of 8, I was left living with my 4 brothers, 4 sisters, and a couple other family members under the same roof in Brooklyn. Our address was 3315, which you see at the center of my tattoo. Family first signifies that no matter what keeps us apart, family always comes first in life and brings me back to that time when we were all looking out and caring for each other.

“Art In Everything” – My uncle was the black sheep of our family, but we probably connected the most out of anyone. He was heavy in to drugs and the process of getting sober is what eventually killed him. His body just couldn’t handle sobriety. I was given a suit case full of all his art and this was one of the last stencils he created.

“The Little Foxes” – Inspired by the mewithoutyou album entitled “Catch For Us The Foxes” as well as Song of Solomon 2:15 which reads, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” It serves as a caution and reminder of those “little foxes” that desire to creep in and steal the fruit, or the blessing, in our relationships whether they are romantic, family, or our relationship with God.

This was an incredible start to the 2012 wedding year! It was awesome to see the joy Jill and Scott shared knowing that their time had finally come and they were so ready for it. I loved seeing the giddiness of Jill play out and compliment the calm and cool demeanor of Scott. They are such a great fit which made the day such a fun celebration of these two.

Jill and Scott will also go down as some of my favorite clients and the type of clients I enjoy working with the most. Knowing that the photographs were one of the most important details from their day, they set aside time before the ceremony where they could do a first look and then have plenty of time for portraits without that rushed feeling of getting back to a reception with waiting guests.

Jill and Scott were also 100% on board with the Love Gives Way campaign as soon as they heard about it. They had actually already booked me before launching the campaign, but they were so passionate about leveraging their day to raise awareness about human trafficking in Atlanta and offer hope to victims that they immediately wanted to switch over to be a Love Gives Way couple.

Thanks so much Jill and Scott for letting me be part of your day as well as using your wedding day as a platform for hope!

I can’t say enough about these two. Josh and Erin are two of the most caring, selfless, and brilliant people you will ever meet. I have known both of them for probably over 6 years now and have been blessed to have them and their families in my life.

I can’t wait for their wedding in August – here are some of the photos from their 2 part engagement shoot – 2 parts because we got soaked as it started raining during the initial shoot and then as luck would have it for the reschedule the next morning, it was about 28 degrees with snow flurries. So it goes with Georgia winter weather I guess.

This is the 3rd time getting to shoot with Mickey Lynn Jewelry and it gets better every time. We have an incredible team who are all very gifted at what they do and are a joy to work with as well. One of those people is our creative director, Abany Bauer, from Brown Linen and Co. She always does a phenomenal job of taking the vision and bringing it to life with her styling.

I loved going in this new direction where we just shot on seamless and allowed the jewelry to really show itself. We shot it all in their studio too where they make every piece themselves. Make sure to check out their stuff!

On a side note, Mickey Lynn is a partner with our Love Gives Way wedding campaign and are providing incredible custom jewelry for our couples – make sure to read about it if you haven’t yet!

We also shot about a half roll of film as well to see how they would turn out – here are 3 of those frames.

It’s always a blast being able to shoot multiple weddings for the same family, but rarely do they both come in the same year! Mary Olivia got engaged just a week after her sister, Ashley, was married to Charlie – you can check out their wedding here. Crazy that these two sisters were married just 6 months from each other.

There’s one thing that I love about this family though, and it’s that they know how to throw a great reception! They have the best live musicians who have come in and turn the wedding day in to a true celebration and it was no different for Mary Olivia and Turner.

It was a great way to end the 2011 wedding year I wish nothing but the best for Mary Olivia and Turner. Thanks so much much for letting me be part of your big day! Also, thank you SO much for being a Love Gives Way couple – you helped leverage your day to bring restoration and healing to girls in Atlanta that have been victimized by sex trafficking and there is nothing more beautiful than taking a day meant to celebrate love to highlight an issue where love is being stolen.

Thanks on behalf of myself and Wellspring Living who is bringing this tangible restoration and healing to these girls!