An accompanying article and photos can be found at http://www.ktvb.com/news/Boise-photo-studio-reaches-out-to-military-families-this-holiday-season-74507827.html

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About PMDA Soldiers’ Angels Portraits of Love Project

The PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA) has teamed with the Soldiers’ Angels volunteer organization to create the PMDA Soldiers’ Angels Portraits of Love Project. The goal of the Project is to provide 10,000 U.S. soldiers around the world with portraits of their families and loved ones this holiday season, taken by the incredibly talented photographers within our industry. What better way to make our soldiers feel at home than by providing them with a beautifully photographed and printed portrait of the ones they love and miss the most?

The PMDA Soldiers’ Angels Portraits of Love Project will help soldiers create their own private world – one in which when they lay down at night, in the barracks, in the tents, or wherever they are, that they are with their loved ones. At the recent PMDA Person of the Year dinner, Sergeant First Class Toby Nunn spoke about the incredible motivation a simple photograph can provide to a solider away from home. We are looking to use the strength and commitment of PMDA member companies to help support this Project and provide the men and women defending our country with a piece of home during these difficult times.

PMDA has designated the month of September to set up photo shoots and gather soldiers’ families in specific cities, on military bases and in other locations across the country. We are working with individual photographers to set up these locations. The goal of the project is to create 10,000 portraits of soldiers’ families and to send these portraits to the soldiers overseas and to their families here in the United States in time for the holidays.

The PMDA Soldiers’ Angels Portraits of Love Project is the imaging industry’s way of giving back with gratitude to the men and women who defend our country each and every day.

Designed to help bring a piece of home to soldiers around the world, the project is utilizing the talents of over 275 volunteer photographers across the country who are opening their studios this September, to offer free family portraits to military family members who have a soldier deployed overseas. The portraits will be uploaded to a website, http://www.pmdaportraitsoflove.com, and a print will be sent, free of charge, directly to the soldier in Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever they are deployed around the world.  The goal of the project is to send 10,000 free family portraits during the month of September.

“This project is the photo industry’s way of giving back to our soldiers, and thanking them for the sacrifices they have made for our country,” said Jerry Grossman, the president of the PMDA who has spearheaded the effort. “Our industry is uniquely qualified to bring an important piece of home to our soldiers, and we’re pleased to be able to organize this effort.”

“It’s incredible how motivating a simple family photograph can be to a soldier who is far from home,” said Sergeant First Class Toby Nunn, who has served two tours in Iraq and has worked with Soldiers Angels on a number of projects. “This volunteer effort is one more way that we can help our soldiers cope with their situation,” he said.

The PMDA has asked photographers nationwide to volunteer their time and talent to take professional family portraits during the month of September. Military family members can find participating photographers living in their areas on a special website, www.pmdaportraitsoflove.com. Photographers are listed by state, and in order for family members to participate they will have to show a proper military ID to the photographer. The website was developed by Fujifilm, a PMDA member who has underwritten this effort, and SeeHere.com from Fujifilm is supplying the free prints to the soldiers and their families.

Those photographers interested in volunteering their time can also sign up online at www.pmdaportraitsoflove.com.

About PMDA

Founded in 1939, the PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA) has promoted the photo industry for over 70 years with an emphasis on photo imaging manufacturers and distributors.  PMDA provides an open forum for its members to exchange ideas and learn new technologies and business trends, in addition to administering programs that promote photography to the general public.  The member companies of PMDA have a box seat on the changing product and business developments of the photo industry and a unique opportunity to network with other industry principals and managers in the receptions preceding each meeting and special event. PMDA has also teamed up with the Photo Marketing Association to create the Photographic Information Council (PIC) to promote photography to the general public.  PIC’s website (www.takegreatpictures.com) provides great photo tips and techniques, celebrity photographers, contests, new product releases and projects. See PMDA’s site, www.pmda.com, for more information.