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Photograph by Roger and Karen Doolin
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Domingo. Photograph by Roger and Karen Doolin
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A colorful papagayo perches at a neighbor’s home.
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Domingo patiently waits for the perfect moment to capture a woman doing her laundry.
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Titled “Broken,” this photo depicts the rugged soil of a papaya grove near the village.
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Gabbi. Photograph by Roger and Karen Doolin
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Gabbi’s younger siblings ride the family’s horse.
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A Sunday school teacher stops for a quick photo with his Bible.
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Rossana. Photograph by Roger and Karen Dulin
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This photo, titled “Chicken Man,” captures a man who cooks meals for troubled young men reforming their lives through trade school.
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Jeffry. Photograph by Roger and Karen Dulin
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An elderly woman does chores in the village.
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Children in Granada leave school for the day.
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No one in Mateare owns an automobile. This license plate commemorates Jeffry’s first time in a car.
For local wedding photographers Karin and Roger Doolin, expression is everything. But during a humanitarian photography tour in Nicaragua, they realized that some people never have the opportunity to freely capture the world around them in images. “We took a lot of pictures of people with our Polaroid camera,” says Karin. “Eventually they started showing us objects and things they wanted pictures of. On our flight home, my husband and I came up with an idea.” After their trip, the couple envisioned what became The Big Picture Project, a nonprofit supplying people in developing countries with the photographic skills and equipment to bring change to their communities. They partnered with local organizations, and their first project took place in Mateare, Nicaragua, where the Doolins spent a week teaching four promising photographers about basic image concepts. They then set their pupils free to capture life as they see it. The results? “They were phenomenal,” says Karin. “It’s like they had this creativity that they were just yearning to get out, but they didn’t have an outlet, so they used this to get it out.” Through The Big Picture Project, recipients not only develop lifelong camera skills but also have the opportunity to share their experiences with the rest of the world. Prints may be purchased online, and all of the proceeds go to organizations in the communities. “Most people in America will never go to an impoverished neighborhood in Nicaragua,” says Karin. “This is their opportunity to see firsthand how they live, see their spirits, and get involved in their lives.”
