Want a Revolution Get on Your Yoga Mat | OMFProject | One Million Faces Project

The One Million Faces (OMF) project has been about community voices from its inception. I invite people of all ages, sizes, colors and backgrounds to write their “message to the world” on a white dry erase board. These are photographed as an improvisational portrait with a message of inspiration, joy, heart, and hope.

My original vision of a sea of faces and their messages is as poignant to me today as it was in 2009. The world needs this vision now as much as ever.

When I photograph people, something magical happens. My subjects relax into truth. They take off their work masks, their parenting masks, their advocacy masks, their facade. I ask them to literally feel their feet on the floor, to take a deep breath and to “share with me more about your message.” In their message and in their eyes we witness the purest expressions in a light-writ photograph.

OMF began in Feb 2009 with a simple, awe-inspiring idea: create a Portrait of America through a photographic patchwork of faces, singular, yet intimately connected when collaged together. Since then, the OMF project has blossomed into an event that blends art with heart: it’s a conversation of community poised to change the world through connection and humanity.

At its core, the OMF project engages the community, as community is a central theme in the overall artistic vision, such as inspiring healing and igniting social change through art and dialog. Who are we as a community – standing together, melding our faces and our voices?

My art is created in public spaces, using the photographs of faces and messages. Using a mosaic style, we can outline the final mural and allow the community to “fill in the blanks.” Influenced by Pop Art, the mosaic work utilizes thousands of portraits as a singular image. Imagine a communal sea of faces connected through a dialog of images. The messages will tell the story of the future we dream of.