A portrait of kindness

By Lethbridge Herald on November 11, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

Help-Portrait Day is back for its 13th season to help families capture their holiday season memories when they would not be able to otherwise.

On Dec. 6, a group of professional photographers will be offering free, high-quality family portraits to people in Lethbridge who, for a variety of reasons, might not be able to afford a family photo this holiday season.

Steven Layton, event director and professional photographer, said this year the event will take place at Casa from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the community room. 

Help-Portrait started as a global movement by Jeremy Cowart as a way for photographers to give back to their communities the best way the know-how, by giving a photo back to families that may be struggling,” said Layton. 

He said a number of years ago Cowart ended the movement, saying it was no longer needed, but here in Lethbridge those taking part in it noticed there was still a need and therefore continued it. 

“I started as a person participating in the event as photographer, taking pictures of families in need and then took over the program couple of years after it was brought to Lethbridge,” said Layton. 

He said the reactions of those getting their pictures taken inspired him to get involved even more and continues to be the driving force of the event. 

“We saw a grown man break down in tears because they haven’t had a photo with her children since they were five and now they are teenagers,” said Layton. 

He added that they have had special needs people in the event who leave with huge smiles with their pictures in hand, as they often do not get photos of themselves. 

“We opened this to the women’s shelters, and we’ve had stories come back of how this has helped women regain their self-worth and happiness through the event,” said Layton. 

They have also had single mothers come in with their children to take their holidays photos as they could not afford to do so otherwise, and they give out hugs to everyone involved as their way to say thank you. 

“This is a great reminder of how the moments with your loved ones are the most important thing during the holidays and not the presents you were able to have under the tree,” said Layton. 

He said this year so far they have 12 photographers taking part in the event, alongside with multiple volunteers to help with different aspects of the event. 

One of them is Purely Inspired Academy of Beauty bringing their students out to help with makeup for the day, and we have a variety of people from the community coming in to be hosts to help families go through the entire process,” said Layton. 

He said the process takes care of makeup, photos being taken, printed and framed. 

“Before they leave, we have a snack table, we have colouring books and stuff for kids while they wait for their turn. We also have a live DJ on stage to keep the energy flowing,” said Layton.

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