Photography program helps vets find light in the darkness

As Christopher Chaffee sets down a hefty Nikon digital camera on the table before him, he makes an observation: “They carry one of these, heavy like a weapon.

“They aim it, they load it, they point it, they shoot it — just like a weapon.”

But that’s where the similarities between combat and photography end for participants in LightBenders, a veterans program that’s part therapy, part photography school. The program, open exclusively to combat veterans, offers free photography instruction over an eight-week period to teach vets a new skill and help them cope with the after-effects of war. The nonprofit will hold its first course July 8 through the Kalispell Vet Center.

“We’ve had students come to us, telling us upon completion, that this has been a life-changing experience,” said Chaffee, LightBenders founder and a former Navy photographer. “I’ve had three students tell me personally that this has been a life-saving experience for them.”

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects an estimated 11 to 20 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 12 percent of those who served during the Gulf War, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As many as 30 percent of all veterans who served during the Vietnam War have had PTSD during their lifetime. Symptoms vary in type and severity and can include nightmares, self-isolation, hyper vigilance and anxiety.

Today, June 27, is National PTSD Awareness Day, which is held annually to raise awareness for the disorder and the treatment options available.

Kalispell Vet Center Director Christina Ryan is constantly on the hunt for new opportunities to create healing for veterans, recognizing that while one method may work for one vet, it’s by no means a universal fix.

“We’re constantly encouraging the veterans that come to the vet center — how do you know this isn’t a good fit if you haven’t tried it yet?” she said. “They like to be in their comfort space; either they isolate at home or they’re not socializing … so we’re looking at ways to create new interests.”

With LightBenders, she said the worst thing that could happen is a veteran could decide that photography isn’t for them.

“We’re still waiting for that to happen,” Chaffee added.

Through the medium of photography, veterans are given a new way to interact with their community and an impetus to get outside. At the beginning and end of the class, veterans also complete a health questionnaire to measure the impact of the course on their symptoms.

Past participant Andrea Hesler said that before enrolling in LightBenders, she suffered from depression and anxiety.

“My spirit was broken,” Helser wrote. “I did not like going out in public much because I felt so out of place and full of anxiety … There are a few things in life that leave a lasting impression like LightBenders in the way it has touched me and helped me come out of my shell.”

The first program was held in 2017 at the Vet Center in Spokane Valley and this summer’s class will be the inaugural session in Kalispell.

Local Marine Corps veteran Jon Vander Ark will be one of the Kalispell course instructors and said photography has been a vital part of his reintegration to civilian life.

“The transition has been difficult because I went from doing a job I really loved that’s not really available in civilian life, to not knowing what to do,” Vander Ark said. His time in the military was cut short when he incurred a back injury in Fallujah, Iraq, after four years of service.

After returning home, Vander Ark purchased a camera as a way to connect with his younger brother who had adopted the hobby. For those first couple of years, Vander Ark was more of a hiking and camping companion than a photographer, but eventually started making his own images.

“It became a way for me to actually connect with my family after the service,” he said. “It was also a healthy hobby that kept me out of trouble. It kept my mind focused. Photography allowed me to escape, but still be focused on something.”

During the LightBenders course, which is offered at no cost to qualifying veterans, participants learn everything from basic camera settings to landscape and nighttime photography.

“Part of the problem with PTSD is a sense of a lack of control over things, so we intimidate them by dropping that in front of them,” Chaffee said of the large digital camera, “and then we turn around and show them how to master it.”

Once the class is over, students graduate into LightBenders alumni groups, in which they can continue their exploration of photography and the friendships forged during the course.

“Their struggle doesn’t end,” Chaffee said. “We don’t want LightBenders to end for them.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.