Geneva Photographer Offers Free Photo Sessions to Families of Cancer Patients

Photo credit: Kathy Green Photo caption: Kathy Green is a professional photographer but will often times set up a tripod to capture pictures of her family with her mother who is battling Stage IV breast cancer. Green offers free sessions and digital images to local families who have family members battling cancer.

Kathy Green knows firsthand the importance of capturing memories with loved ones.

Green, who owns RCG Photography in Geneva, got her love of photography from her father. He bought Green her first camera and would take her out to shoot photos. While this fostered her love for photography it didn’t allow her to get any pictures of the two of them together. This came as a detriment when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack while Green was in college.

“I don’t have any pictures of him and me -- I think I have one and I was in sixth grade,” Green said. “It became very important to me to capture those family memories.”

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This is truer-than-ever for her family -- for the past 14 years her mother, who lives in Darien with Green’s step-father, has been battling Stage IV cancer. Since her mother’s diagnosis, Green is dedicated to taking plenty of her own family photos,

But she wanted to do something more to make sure others with sick family members had quality pictures. So, since her business has been open in 2009, Green has offered free sessions and digital images to the families of cancer patients.

“This stems from my dad and how I now really want to be in photos with my mom … it’s the reason why I started offering it,” she said. “When a family member has cancer the last thing you think of is taking a photo,”

But, having those photos are priceless, she said. Over the years she has provided about 50 free sessions to area families.

“It give me an outlet to give back to people,” Green said. “It’s really hard to be a patient but it’s also hard to be the family member of a loved one who is sick.”

In 2009, she extended an invite to any patients with Living Well Cancer Resource Center to come on a given date to have their photos taken at the healing gardens at the Geneva center. She was surprised by the turnout.

“Twenty families came out … it was very moving,” she said. “A lot of those people are no longer here.”

Despite their loss, she said families have expressed their gratitude for having the photos.

“Those photos mean more to them than anything in the world,” she said.

Green has lived in Geneva for 15 years and her and her husband, Pat, have three sons, Ryan, 13; Colin, 11; and Gavin, 8. You can get more information on RCG Photography by visiting RCG’s website.

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