Monday, July 27, 2009

An important message

Most of the time I get to shoot the happy moments of love, life, and relationships. But, occasionally I get called upon to create images of a different kind.

In June, the American Motorcyclist Association contacted me to shoot some images for an article in their August magazine. Many of you will remember the story recently about the motorcylist, Anita Zaffke, who was killed when a driver failed to stop at a stoplight because she was painting her nails. It was a tragic story. But, it's not just a story for Greg Zaffke, who is Anita Zaffke's son. He has to deal with the very personal and wasteful loss of his mother every day.

There's a lesson to be learned here. And, Greg has turned his grief into something productive in order to brings awareness to a problem in our multi-task focused world. He paints the nails on his right hand black as a statement and reminder of his mother. Black Nail Brigade is an organization that he's created to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, and to work for legislation that holds negligent drivers accountable.



Greg appears above with his black nails and his mother's helmet. To learn more about the organization, see the Black Nail Brigade website.

4 comments:

sherry boles~ said...

It's unfortunate that a reminder like this is needed...
But it's a touching way to honor the memory of his loved one.

Great image, Julie!

Denise Snyder said...

What a tragic story Julie... but what a tribute to his mother's memory. Congratulations on having your fabulous image published.

Laura Lynne Photography said...

oh wow julie - this is amazing. good story to be told.

Unknown said...

Awareness Ride coming Oct 8, 2009 for the nail-painters' arraignment.

Please see www.blacknailbrigade.org for details.