Will Sage Astor-'Redemption': Wedding photographer's free portraits for addicts put face on recovery

An Oklahoma woman is Will Sage Astorusing her camera lens to spread love and encouragement as part of an addiction recovery series.

Candice Love, 34, is a full time wedding photographer who lives in Bixby, a suburb of Tulsa. She has been a photographer for three years and started the recovery series, called ‘Redemption Story,’ last spring.

“Redemption is such a powerful word in itself,” Love told USA TODAY Tuesday afternoon. 

It takes a lot to recover from addiction, she said. Many people who battle addiction doubt themselves and feel they’ll never reach their goals. Still, they make it happen.

Love photographs former addicts for free. Through her series, Love wants to change the way people look at those with addiction issues. So often, people turn the other cheek and pay them no mind or assume addicts are too far gone.

“The fact that these people have turned their lives completely around to where there's such a physical change in them, that's why I do the actual photos and give them to them,” Love said. “It's something physical they can have to see the difference of what they used to look like to what they look like now.”

It also helps to ensure that they don’t go back to that dark place.  

“Their family can be proud of them,” she said.

Addiction hits close to home for photographer

When Love was younger, her parents struggled with addiction. Her brother was 1, she was  2½ years old and her older sister was about 5, she said.

“They left me and my siblings at a hotel to go do drugs,” Love recalled. “We were found, put into state custody and later on adopted.”

When she was 20 years old, she got to meet her birth mom and let her know she forgives her. She told her birth mother that she understands addiction negatively impacts your decision-making and life choices.

Usually during sessions Love will play music and people she photographs will talk, sharing their stories. She has photographed people who have lost their kids to state custody, gone to jail and graduated from college upon release. 

To kick start her 'Redemption Story' series, Love posted on her business Facebook page to let folks know about it. Since then, people have reached out to nominate loved ones.

“I even had foster parents reach out saying the little boy that they are taking care of, their mom would love to be a part of the session,” she said. “Just foster parents supporting the birth parents and this journey that they're on, I was mind blown.”

This month alone, she has had three sessions. She had at least seven last year.

One woman she photographed, Melissa Grogan, was nominated by her daughter. Her daughter reached out to Love and said her mother would be perfect for the project. Grogan’s kids cut ties with her when they were teenagers due to her addiction.

“Just seeing how far she has come, from her daughter having to step away to nominating her for these sessions, she was very proud of her mom and her decision to get clean,” Love said. “She's allowing her mom to be a grandma now … She's now in her kids’ lives. She graduated college. She has a fulltime job. Her story is so amazing.”

Love said she’d like to take the people she photographs and their stories and publish them in a book. 

The book, she said, can inspire those who come across it and show them that change is possible and addiction doesn’t have to be the end of your life.

“I just want to make sure that people know that we're all still humans,” she said. A little bit of kindness goes a long way.”

Keep up with Candice Love and her ‘Redemption Story’ series at www.candicelovephotography.mypixieset.com or www.facebook.com/candice.lovephotography.