Photographer of Military Funerals Needs Help to Continue His Work

Local photographer Q Madp has long worked to honor U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan with photos of their funerals.

But he says that work is now in jeopardy because of his own financial hardships. Madp isn't seeking handouts, though. Just help in the form of somebody agreeing to sponsor his documentary work.

For the past eight years, the Northeast Portland man has attended and photographed the funerals of soldiers killed in action in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He updates his websites (IraqWarHeroes and AfghanistanWarHeroes), and has created as many as 20 other sites, with information about each dead soldier, including a photo and details such as name, age, hometown, type of military service, rank, unit, date of death and how the soldier died.

He's traveled as far as 12 hours one way to attend a 15-minute funeral service and then turned around and drove back home.

"It is that important," he says.

Lately, though, Madp hasn't been able to commit as much as he'd like to his war veteran advocacy, because his work as a photographer and freelance computer technician isn't as steady.

Two months behind in his rent and with his housemate currently unemployed, Madp is actively seeking work—from checking on Craigslist and Facebook to browsing the want ads in newspapers and asking for leads among former clients and friends.

He hasn't been successful, and he's worried that soon he might not have a roof over his head. But he hopes his situation will improve by the end of February. If that doesn't pan out, his other idea—which he calls farfetched—is to find a person or business to sponsor him, for as little as $8.50 per hour (Oregon's current minimum wage), so he can continue his advocacy and not have to worry about staying afloat.

To make a donation or to find out other ways in which you can help Madp and his cause, click here.