Thursday, February 12, 2009

Photography, music leads to Home of Hope

by Carolyn Kaberline   

When Laurel Fisher of Perry is home from college, she can often be found at one of the photo stations at Wolfe’s Cameras in Topeka.

“I’ve been taking pictures since I was nine,” Fisher said. “I received a purple point-and-shoot camera from my grandmother Larson. Several years and cameras later, I established Laurel Fisher Photography.” Fisher, who now uses a Nikon D-70 digital SLR camera, said she especially likes to “capture the true essence, the real personality” of those she photographs.

“I’m especially fond of candid and black and white images, and close ups,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “and Photoshop.”

Since the establishment of Laurel Fisher Photography in 2005, she has photographed weddings, special events and a variety of groups, as well as taking all of her family’s photos.

“I come from a large family,” she said, explaining that she’s the oldest of eight, with four brothers and three sisters “all from the same parents. Three of my siblings are married, and I have a 2-year-old niece, a 5-month-old nephew, and a just arrived nephew. So now that my nephew has arrived, my immediate family numbers 16.”

Because of the size of her family, she said she’s had lots of family photo experience.

At about the same time she started taking photos, she also began to take piano lessons.

“My maternal grandmother paid for piano lessons for any musically inclined grandchildren for as long as we were interested,” Fisher said. “At one point, the oldest five of us were all taking lessons, and seven of the eight of us have taken or are now taking lessons. Some are more musical than others, but five of us are regularly involved with music at our respective churches or schools.”

In addition to taking piano lessons for “about 15 or 16 years,” Fisher also began to write songs at a young age which eventually led to her first CD.

“I didn’t start out to make a CD,” Fisher said. “It just happened as I was improvising some songs I had written. I was recording a scripture song in 2000 and decided to launch a full-length project.”

The actual project was begun the following year with the help of her teacher Danny Jackson.

“The project took about 3 ½ years to complete,” she said. “Somewhere in the middle of it, I decided I didn’t want this to be just about me. I wanted to use the gifts God had given me.”

Fisher had visited Home of Hope, a children’s home, in Bangladesh in 1999 as part of a mission trip to the country. While there, she met Larry and Sharon Smith, directors of the center, who had lived in the country since 1979.

In addition to meeting the Smiths on this trip, Fisher also met Shrabonti Mondol, now 14, who became her sponsored child through Mission of Mercy, a Colorado-based organization.

“I met her at Home of Hope. I actually got to pick out my own child to sponsor, since Shrabonti was one of several children who had just arrived at the home. I’ve sponsored her ever since.”

Fisher said her commitment of $30 a month has enabled her to “change the world for one child, to be uniquely involved in her physical and spiritual development. For the last year or two Shrabonti has been writing her own letters to me in English several times a year.”

Prior to this, Fisher said Shrabonti would write to her in Bengali and someone would translate for her. “I received side-by-side Bengali and English letters. I try to write back to her, and send pictures, several times a year. It takes at least a month for a letter to reach her.”

Because of this first trip to Home of Hope and another one in 2000, Fisher’s interest in the Smiths’ work grew. “The title song of my CD ‘Start Small, Hope Big’ was written in their honor and a portion of the proceeds from sales of the CD have gone to their mission.”

An active member of the Williamstown Assembly of God Church when she’s home, Fisher said her most special presentation of the title song came before the Williamstown congregation when the Smiths were present. “I really wanted the song to bless them and their work,” she said. “It was a very emotional experience.”

Fisher, who has done numerous concerts, describes the CD as “all Christian music, all religious, predominantly contemporary Christian, with some black gospel, some rock, and a little bit of country.”

Fisher notes that the CD features 12 songs including three love songs: “LSD (Love Sick Dog),” “I Wonder About You,” and “I Was Made for Love.”

Currently, the CD can be found at Signs of Life in Lawrence and on her Web site laurelfisher.com. Until the end of February all proceeds will go to Home of Hope and Fisher believes it would make a good Valentine’s Day gift. “People who purchase this can not only give something to their sweetie but to a good cause as well.”

So far Fisher has found a way to combine not only her interest in the missions and music, but also her interest in the missions and photography.

“I was the main photographer of a mission group that traveled to Romania over my 2006 spring break,” she said, adding that this event gave her a new interest and direction.

“There’s really a demand for photographers to do this,” Fisher said, explaining that this is an area she’d really like to get into. “I want to document missionaries. I hope to travel to Bangladesh again this fall, and I want to go to Africa, but I have no firm plans,” she said. “I just know that I want to continue my gifts of music and photography to advance the missions.”

Fisher, who will graduate this May from Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., believes her communication major ties in well with her interests in photography and music. “I want my life and music tied to the greatest gift there is, the gift of Jesus Christ. With that as my priority, everything else falls into place.”