HELP Stacy keep shooting please
- By: Stacy Jeen Reay
- Short URL: https://archive.backabuddy.co.za/stacy-jeen-reay-5784569849185452646
- Date Created: 15 December 2023
Personal message
Hi, My name is Stacy-Jeen Reay & through initially being a hobbyist photographer starting in 2010, I have managed to turn a hobby into a career full time in the last 5 years. My aunt bought me my very first full frame camera in 2011 which sparked a HUGE fire in my soul & love for photography. In roughly 2015, my parents purchased me a 2nd hand canon 5Dmark III to help me further my career. This was immensely helpful to my little business... I have since managed to purchase 2 second hand lenses to progress my business potential.
Having shot weddings, families, created MANY magical moments for so many clients who have turned into friends, my business deteriorated at the start of lockdown as I had to refund brides & clients as the scale of time was unpredictable. I had to find other forms of income to substitute my photography income as my goal was to become a FULL TIME photographer & that was my primary focus.
I started to work in the film industry nearing the 3/4 of the year of 2020 working in the costume department. By the end of this production I had contracted corona virus which I brought into my home & landed up making my mother VERY ILL over Christmas and New Year of 2020 into 2021. By the grace of God, my mother made it through her terrifying ordeal & survived by landed up in a wheelchair for over 8 months.
During this time, I became my mother full time carer as I was determined to get her out of a wheelchair but due to her losing her job due to being wheelchair bound & myself trying to still look for work, finances were extremely bad at the time. we have incurred alot of debt due to this period of time where health took priority.
By August 2021, we had no option to help ourselves financially & stayed with family in the eastern cape after selling most of our valuable, furniture & as much as possible in order to stop debt incurring. I tried my best to have a photographic career in the eastern cape karoo, but it was no fruitful.
I have since returned to Cape Town to find work to help with paying off incurred debt as this has become a HUGE issue to maintain & to keep ahead of. SAVING IS IMPOSSIBLE.
I am currently working as a freelancer for a real estate company which requires me to upgrade my camera soon & my camera is not coping anymore as it has gone FAR past its estimated shutter frame capacity yet somehow is still functioning.
I have been so blessed to still have it working yet I know there will be a time I wont be so lucky.
I am trying my very best to help pay off debt that has incurred over the last few years due to ill health & I have been trying to save but this seems impossible.
I am so desperate to keep photography in my life & I really hope I can have this dream come true as it will help me in so many ways to keep working. I do not like asking for help & this seems to be my only form of hope to help not only myself, but to continue to help my family overcome this setback.
I have been keeping an eye out for specials on this requirement of canon R6 specifically - it fits all my batteries that I already have & my lenses too, so it would be the best move forward financially yet still has been an impossible hurdle.
I love creating memories for so many people, and how it has changed my life in the last decade or more.... I hope I can continue.
Donations
- Feb 03, 2024 - R 500.00 Fees covered
- "" - Anonymous
- Jan 17, 2024 - USD $ 28.49 Fees covered
- "Stacy, has captured so many memories for my family. She is such a special special. 💗 Sending you so much love and blessings x" - Zoe Du Preez
- Jan 03, 2024 - R 499.77 Fees covered
- "" - Anonymous
- Dec 17, 2023 - R 1 000.00 Fees covered
- "Hope this helps!" - Anonymous
- Dec 15, 2023 - R 500.00 Fees covered
- "" - Anonymous
- Dec 15, 2023 - R 500.00 Fees covered
- "Please help support this incredible human to keep her livelihood alive. The world would be a very sad place without her photography!" - Anonymous
Statistics
Fundraising target
R 35 000.00Donations to date
R 3 472.76HELP Stacy keep shooting please Campaign
Please help Stacy continue to work as a photographer. This is her livlihood & has been dedicated to photography & her dream career since 2010.