Shooting for Chaco Footwear

A month or so ago I was contacted by an agency and asked if I would like to shoot for Chaco Footwear this summer!

They wanted two different looks. The first was to be a lifestyle-type photo to represent #ChacoNation. The second was to be a "look down" shot showing my #ChacoViews.

I have been a Chaco sandal lover for over a decade so I was honored to do work for them!  

(an old photo of me in my Chaco sandals.)

In fact - they were the sandals I wore the night I got engaged! My husband and I did a great hike in Utah's Big Cottonwood Canyon and camped alongside a small little lake high up in the mountains. Once the sun was setting, he got down on one knee and the rest is history!

Camping up at Lake Blanche in Utah, moments before the big proposal! 💍

The hike, with all of our camping gear on our backs, was fairly strenuous and my Chacos were the only shoes I wore! I've worn them on hikes, canoe rides, and days at the cabin ever since! 

So this summer I ordered pairs for the entire family and brought them all up to the cabin to do the shoot. My 13 year old cousin Meg was a great little model!  She's wearing my sandals in the photo above.

We've had great fun as a family exploring this summer and giving our new sandals a workout! I especially love their support! They're the only sandals I could actually do long hikes in! (My feet are trashed from long distance running and need good support.)  ❤️ My mom wore a pair of mine paddleboarding and ordered the same pair that day! 😂

Thanks so much Chaco Footwear for asking me to shoot your sandals! It was an honor and super fun! 

❤️Jill  

What I want to remember about Uganda

This Blog Entry is a part of my Uganda Trip Page. Click Here to read all of the blog entries as well as information about the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, the American Refugee Committee & how to help.

Uganda is a complex land and after only one short week of travels, I know I do not have nearly enough expertise to summarize the country, the people, the lifestyles. 

So I am going to share a story for now.

I made many new friends on this trip. I traveled with a group of staff from the American Refugee Committee as well as a few other guests. American Refugee Committee is based out of Minneapolis so there were many locals on my trip. 

I became very close with the girl pictured above. Her name is Amanda and she is also a photographer from Minneapolis. We went through this entire experience together. I am so grateful that she also came as a guest of ARC. We had similar attitudes and adventurous spirits which made for a lot of laughs and great fun. We were also able to talk about what we saw and how we felt. We were inspired together. 

On one long car ride, we were talking about our experiences. I told Amanda that my goal prior to traveling to Uganda was to show the world that refugees are like you and me. That no matter where you go, you will find joy and love and the strength of the human spirit, even amongst people that have been forced to leave their homelands in search of peace, and have endured many hardships along the way. 

I told her I didn't want to share the stereotypical photos of a malnourished child with hollow eyes, tattered clothing and flies buzzing about. I felt that we had seen that so much already & have perhaps been de-sensitized. I wanted to emphasize the humanity of the refugees. Amanda astutely pointed out that we obviously didn't have to worry about that! 

At that point we were on our second full day at the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. We had seen drummers and tight-rope walkers and artists and more! She knew we had captured images that represented the human spirit because it is so vibrant and apparent there!

The people of Uganda really amazed me. They didn't complain when we were forced to wait to de-board our plane. Instead, they were polite and happily chatted amongst one-another while we waited. No groans and loud cell-phone calls like you'd witness on the tarmac at JFK. Quite the first impression!

They were also outgoing & so quick to smile. Everywhere we went, kids yelled "Mizungo!" which means person with white skin. Kids would yell to their parents "Mizungo! Mizungo!" and the entire family would stop to wave. They'd also call out "Hi! How are you?" which was so endearing. 

I also witnessed that they were very hard workers. From sun-up to sun-down, the hundreds of people I saw were busy at work. Life in the refugee camp does not have our modern day conveniences.

There is no running water. Most do not have electricity. There's no jumbo-grocery store. So what you mostly see when you are there is people working.

You see people - kids included - carrying the yellow plastic bins on their way to retrieve fresh water. You see moms and dads bent over in their gardens. You see clothes-washing and food preparation in small plastic bins. 

And you also see people living in harmony. Imagine living in a town of 120,000 people where everyone had just arrived from a different country! So many different customs and religions and cultures. All meshed into one small 80 square mile settlement. 

Later that night Amanda and I were looking through our photos when something struck her: "We ARE taking those photos!" she gasped.

Sure enough, if we looked closely at our photos from our visits to the settlement, there were signs of poverty everywhere. 

We realized that the magic of the place, the people, their friendships, their hard work, their kindness, their smiles, their "Hi, How Are You?'s" transcended appearances. Their attitudes made it possible to be in the middle of a poverty stricken place, yet not focused on the poverty. It happened immediately to us. Unknowingly even. 

The refugees of the Nakivale Settlement had shown us through example that they are not defined by their current situation. They were acrobats and artists and farmers and mothers and lovers and kids who like to play, laugh, live, create!

And that, my friends, is my story. Is it enough? I hope so.  For now at least.

Thank you for listening!

❤️ Jill

A few pictures from outside the settlement: 

Uganda: African Safari!

This Blog Entry is a part of my Uganda Trip Page. Click Here to read all of the blog entries as well as information about the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, the American Refugee Committee & how to help.

In our last day in Uganda, my new friend Amanda (from Heartbeet Kitchen) and I left our group and began the trek back to the airport.

We were accompanied by a driver and a Ugandan woman who is on the American Refugee Committee staff. Her name is Shamimn. ​

We left early in the morning which gave us time to do a small safari at Lake Mburo National Park before catching our 11:30pm overnight flight. 

It took a few hours and many bumpy roads to get to the park.

Once we were there, we couldn't believe our eyes! ​

We hired a park guide to show us around. They carry guns to fend off any aggressive animals. There is only one lion in the entire park, but animals like hippos and water buffalos can become aggressive if you get between them and their youth.. 

These wild boar were my favorite. The way they moved their short stubby legs made us all laugh. I'm smitten.  

Uganda! You do not cease to amaze! I am happy we got to see this beautiful side of Uganda before heading home. What an amazing country!