Holly has been deaf since birth and Reynolds just fell in love with her approach to life. He felt like he just needed to share her story and her view on the world and hopefully inspire others as she has done him. When Reynolds usually posts a photo, he often likes to give you their name, age, tell you about their past. However in this case, he wanted you to hear it directly from Holly herself rather than from him.
For a change, doing this project takes the focus off Reynolds. As a freelancer, it’s so easy to be stuck inside one’s own head: How am I going to market myself? Did we get enough footage of me photographing the subject or how am I going to feel creatively fulfilled? This was so much more than that. To be able to use our cameras to tell a true human story that can resonate with people regardless of age, skin color or race is a phenomenal opportunity. Even more so to have the opportunity to provide a platform for someone to be heard who is unfortunately in a segment of society that is often pushed aside is outstanding. A true round of applause for Reynolds and Holly-Ann in that respect!
When Reynolds filmed his first short documentary with photographer James Dunn, that wasn’t a project to make himself look good or promote his own business, It was doing a good deed and feeling like it was something he had to do… and he has never felt more creatively fulfilled. That’s why he decided to start this series (or mini versions of his “James Documentary”).
You can see the documentary below: