On a gray Cincinnati winter morning, when the news cycle has felt like an endless loop of horrible news, one local photographer decided that scrolling and reposting wasn’t enough. She has, as she puts it, “one skill”: she takes pictures. So instead of sitting with helplessness, Katheine Weinbender is turning that skill into action with Portraits for Progress, a one-day pay- what-you-can portrait event that offers people more than just a new headshot, but a chance to feel seen, support immigrants and gather in community at a moment when isolation and outrage can feel like the default.
Photographer Katherine Weinbender of Katherine Elyse Media and Photography
Weinbender has been working in the photography industry for 15+ years, but she didn’t start in a career in the arts. “I have my degree in psychology with a minor in child development,” Weinbender says. “I really was trying to find what suited me best, but it turns out what suited me best was something a little more artistic.”
She brought her business, where she caters to queer weddings, to Cincinnati three years ago, where she continues to dedicate herself to causes that are important to her. “I don’t think it’s an accident that my work ended up centering queer weddings. Queer love is still treated as a debate topic in this country, so choosing to specialize in it is my way of saving, very loudly, that our joy is not up for discussion, ” Weinbender says. “Documenting that kind of love isn’t just pretty photos to me; it’s an act of affirmation. It’s saying,
‘You belong here. Your story deserves to be witnessed and remembered exactly as you are. ’”
Her commitment to telling these stories is what brought her to creating Portraits for Progress. “I hit a point where watching the news and crying about it from my couch wasn’t cutting it anymore. I was angry and heartbroken and completely overwhelmed, but underneath all of that was this really simple, loud feeling of I just had to do something,” Weinbender says. “I’m not a lawyer or a policymaker, I'm a photographer. So, I asked myself, what can I do with the one skill I know I have? Portraits for Progress is my answer to that question. It’s me saying, I can’t fix everything, but I can use my camera to raise money, build community, and give people a space to feel seen. Doing nothing wasn’t an option anymore.”
She is doing exactly that on February 17, where people are invited to The Marketer Collaborative, located at 15 E 14th St., to a pay-what-you-can photo session with Weinbender and Casey Miller. Participants can come anytime between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and have 5 to 15 minutes with a photographer to get whatever kind of photos they would like, including family, couples, individuals, and even pets. Donations from the day go to the National Immigration Law Center, supporting immigrants across the country.
“Portraits for Progress matters to me because it’s where all the pieces of my life overlap; art, advocacy, and community, ” Weinbender says. “This is the one concrete way I know how to push back against feeling powerless. In one day, I get to help raise money for immigrants, give people portraits that make them feel seen and confident, and put them in a room together where they’re reminded that they’re not alone. It turns all that anger and heartbreak into something tangible and loving. That feels like the only way I know to keep going.”
This isn’t the first time Weinbender has set up an event like this. Each June during Pride month, she runs Pics for Pride, a free 15-minute mini session for queer couples, throuples, families, or “you and your dog,” she says. The point isn’t just the photos, but the feeling that comes with the session. “I want queer people to have images of themselves that feel joyful and unapologetic,” Weinbender says. “It’s my way of saying, ‘You’re worthy of being celebrated exactly as you are.”
For Weinbender, Portraits for Progress isn’t just a fundraiser, it’s a blueprint for the kind of community she wants her business to help build. Photography has always been about people for her, but this event makes that visible. “We are better together,” she says, and Portraits for Progress is one way she tries to prove that with each photo she takes. By using her business to create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and connected