To say that Australian Sarah-Jane Staszak was a phenomenally adventurous, physically prodigious human being is putting it mildly. She was a master rock climber and abseil instructor who had biked across the vast Australian continent in a giant figure eight. She was young, fearless, and unstoppable, and her son Hamish was born during one of her many adventures. She infused the little boy with her can-do spirit, continually involving him in age-appropriate adventures. All that changed dramatically when she injured her back while working as an outdoor education instructor. A routine operation for a herniated disc ended tragically, and she was faced with living the rest of her life as a quadriplegic. Confined to a wheelchair she was unable to walk or even to hold her then-3-year-old son.
Sarah-Jane (SJ) went through this life-changing crisis with her brave little boy by her side. And she had a dream: to be able to continue providing him with life-changing adventures despite her daunting physical limitations. When Karen Alsop and The Heart Project heard about Sarah-Jane’s compelling story, they immediately began formulating a plan to help make SJ’s dream more of a reality. Indeed, The Heart Project’s primary mission is bringing hope and joy through photography. Karen Alsop specializes creating vivid and symbolic imaginary scenes through the masterful use of Photoshop, but she knew that this project needed something extra special. So she got in touch with Benjamin VonWong, a photographer she calls “a force of nature,” who happened to be in Australia at the tine. VonWong is internationally acclaimed for creating amazing storytelling images and videos, all firmly based in physical reality, but they’re so unbelievably adept and seamless they’re often assumed to be heavily Photoshopped.
This two-pronged project clearly required an extraordinary team that included expert technical and logistical support as well as two great artists that approached photography as a transformational art form. They knew that they had to provide something much more than a simulated adventure based on studio shots. And to achieve that goal, they had to take SJ and Hamish back to the familiar rock faces of the Blue Mountains to convey the deep emotional and physical context of their unique mother-son relationship. What they wound up doing was gathering up all their resources to prepare SJ for an excellent adventure and literally levitating her through the woods in her wheelchair!
To make sure everything was safe, VonWong played guinea pig with the crew keeping a careful watch. Since SJ was an experienced climber they wanted to make sure all the pieces were in place and working before she arrived. Unfortunately, most of these preparations took place in bad weather, but they persisted. “I never thought I’d find myself dangling off the edge of a cliff, in the pouring rain, while sitting in a wheelchair,” says VonWong with a smile. Then they started the actual shoot that captured VonWong’s iconic image of the two of them reunited in this grand adventure. First, they dangled Hamish off the edge all alone—then in was SJs turn, followed by the lighting equipment, and finally that brave little kid. But the team’s journey wasn’t over yet—Karen Alsop had come up with her own equally incisive project that would be executed through the magic of Photoshop.
Alsop wanted to show SJ’s and her son’s love for adventure, and this is how she came up with the theme for her fantasy images—to highlight the dynamic connection between mother and son at play. The first background plate of some ruins was captured at the base of the Blue Mountains, and the final photograph shows Hamish’s new role as protector. SJ’s strength and determination to support Hamish despite her limitations is evident to all that know them. The second image, The Tunnel of Life, showcases this motherly, protective drive. In this classic adventure scene, Sarah-Jane hurtles out of a train tunnel with Hamish hanging on for dear life. To achieve the sense of a train chasing them, the team set up the lighting and smoke machine in the tunnel, backlighting the smoke to give the effect of an approaching train.
Perhaps the most emotionally charged image for Alsop and for SJ, was Leap of Faith. Taking SJ out of her chair, and freeing her from her quadriplegia in Photoshop was bittersweet for both of them. Since the surgery, SJ has hoped for a return to normality, but as the years have progressed she has come to the realization that her chair is her new normal and transcending its limitations has become her overarching goal. Unfortunately for Sarah-Jane, real life can’t be Photoshopped, but she wants to keep fighting in the service of others, to improve accessibility for other disabled mothers in her neighborhood.
Project Q & A: Ben VonWong
How did you conceive of the idea of having Sarah-Jane dynamically positioned in the wheelchair on top of the rock ledge and her son dangling on a rope below it? Was this your idea, the consensus of the group, etc.?
It was the shot that made the most compositional sense at the location based on the story that we heard from SJ and the technical assets we had once we arrived. A lot of this shoot was based on the limitations of the team and location.
How did you find such a perfect location for this image, and did you have to wait for the perfect time of day to achieve this great natural lighting that complements the bounced flash on the boy?
Dylan from the Blue Mountains Adventure Corporation is an expert in the region. He, along with a friend, Jake Anderson sent us a few options by email and we scouted it out to try and conceptualize the best possible shots.
Project Q & A: Karen Alsop
How was the amazing Leap Of Faith image executed, and what was in your mind when you created this truly inspiring image?
I love to make the impossible possible in my imagery. My inspiration came from the great adventure movies that SJ and Hamish love to watch together. With The Heart Project, I’ve created many images that take children with disabilities out of their limitations into a fantasy world. For SJ, this image was bittersweet. She has come to the realization that she may never walk again, but seeing this image metaphorically gives her the strength to keep going for Hamish.
Because of SJ’s physical disability, we had a team of helpers in the studio assisting her so that I could take multiple photos of different body parts. I then merged these together in Photoshop and used the Puppet Warp tool to give the appearance of SJ leaping through the air towards her son.
Tunnel of Life was created in Photoshop. How did you come up with this compelling concept, and does the studio shot with the boy being held aloft and mom in the wheelchair on the left show how some of the elements of this image were conceived and executed?
I wanted to show SJ’s strength as the savior in Tunnel of Life. Shooting the background meant locating an abandoned train tunnel to set the scene. We used photographic colored smoke in the tunnel and a portable strobe to backlight the smoke. This gave the illusion of a train coming. In the studio, I encouraged SJ to pull her best acting face, and she got into character pretty quickly.
To capture Hamish flying through the air, we first tried with Benjamin and Don holding him up, however, this didn’t work out so I needed to come up with a better solution. I climbed up onto a tall ladder and had Hamish jump up towards me holding a small bar in is hand. This shot then matched the scene perfectly. I often have to think out of the box on shoots like this. There are so many ways of approaching Photoshop projects, but some ways work better than others.
The overarching theme of this project is the transcendence of the human spirit as embodied in the story a disabled woman and her son moving beyond the barriers of physical limitations to affirm the joy of being alive. Both Karen Alsop and Ben VonWong are deeply committed to telling real stories, making a real difference, and bringing positive change to the world.
