Shooting in Samoa

On January 27^th  2018 I set off to Samoa with Motivation Australia to shoot for a week. There were two main objectives for the shoot: find the stories of people who have overcome physical disability to create the life they want and to educate Samoans about the services that are available to them.

Nearly four years ago, Motivation Australia connected with the NHS and MDS in Samoa to setup a service for people that require an aid for mobility.
In that time, more than 1000 Samoans received a wheelchair, an artificial limb or an orthosis. Whilst over in Samoa, I got to meet a handful of these people.

As you can see from the photos, the Samoa is incredibly beautiful. Not just because of the lush green landscapes and clear blue oceans, but because of the endless number of smiling faces that greeted me every day.

It was hot, the days were long and the shooting conditions were challenging, but I feel as though we captured something pretty amazing which makes it all worthwhile.
Seeing these people thrive regardless of their physical challenges was inspiring. It certainly gives you some perspective on your own life when you meet a farmer that has no legs or fingers and yet still manages to farm and live off his land.

We’ll be working on the edit for the film over the next month and plan to release around the first or second week or March this year.

Thanks for reading.

WG.