More than 100 veterans live at Hoosier Village Retirement Community. Now, their service is being recognized with a permanent photo exhibit.
Photographer Adam Seif wanted to help them remember their service and show that people care.
“Those veterans have really shaped the way our country is and how we live,” Seif says. “We are who we are as a country because of them. These people need to be displayed and never forgotten. They need to know that they’re very important, even now.”
Seif worked with the facility’s chaplain to set up photo sessions with each veteran. Each frame includes the veteran’s name, military branch and years of service. For veterans who had service photos, that photo is included side by side with their new portrait.
“My first veteran’s last name was Abbott,” Seif says. “He had this big, huge smile on his face and was just a fun guy to start with. He had stories and then I got a service photo, and he had basically the same smile as he did back then, which I thought was pretty cool. A good portion of them even had military uniforms that they wore [for their photos]. Every time they started a story, I had to listen. Every story was so special in their own way.”
Several veterans and their families attended the photo wall’s unveiling in December.
“Everyone came up to me and shook my hand, and thanked me for what I did,” Seif says. “That gave me chills. When they’re telling their stories, you can just tell that they were proud.”
Seif is currently looking for a new location to do another photo wall for veterans. If you’re interested, you can reach Seif at adam10spro@hotmail.com.
For more info on Hoosier Village Retirement Community, go to hoosiervillage.com.
