Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International¡
It takes a village to raise the world. Back on March 2009, Isaac Hernandez was ready to hang a show of street photographs under the theme of Love. The day the show was supposed to be hanged at the Samy’s Camera gallery, he woke up with a realization, scrap the old idea and print/frame/hang a different collection, 30 portraits of people that are making a difference with their work.
This series of environmental portraits presented a group of people with powerful impact from a variety of fields: artists, scientists, cultural, social and environmental leaders. All of them are up to something worth finding out about.
This inspiring group ranges from local community leaders to internationally-known figures. Santa Barbara leaders like Bud Bottoms and Steve Sherrill shared walls with Amy Tan, Wavy Gravy, Isabel Allende, Antonio Banderas, Michael Pollan, and Zainab Salbi, in great company.
The exhibit was covered by television and printed media. Since then, it has gained momentum and grown into separate projects. One of them is the environmental difference makers, which has its own website at www.ecoportraits.com.
We will be posting stories and photos of the Difference Makers in these pages. Thanks for following.