Recently,  Hunter Freeman donated his time to a photo shoot for  Melwood, a non profit agency whose mission is to empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  In his own words, he describes how the shoot influenced him to continue his astronaut series.

” I didn’t think I would ever shoot on the moon, but when a friend called to ask for help with a pro bono client – and to shoot it on the Bonneville Salt Flats – I just had to help.  Melwood works with all kinds of companies and corporations, including NASA, and does a wonderful job of helping individuals with disabilities to find meaningful work and lives.  One of their specialties is receiving donated cars.  The commercial that was shot was a parody of the classic high end car commercial, with racing footage about a car that will “change peoples’ lives”, only the car ends up being a 1993 POS (Plymouth Sundance with 140K on it, to be precise).  So how could I not bring the Astronaut suit along and do some shots with that?  Everywhere I looked on the Salt Flats, there was another picture.

While the video crew was doing their thing, I shot the hero of the ad (the car) as well as one of Melwood’s clients, a lovely young guy named William.  He was great, and really got into being photographed with the Astronaut.  Interestingly, William and his caregiver left the next day – in “the car” – to drive east back to DC.  So far, so good, is the word.  Rumor has it, Melwoods’ agency SmithGifford will be posting their journey on YouTube soon.  We’ll keep you posted.”  Hunter Freeman

Tune in later when we show off the latest images in the astronaut series.