The story of Capturing Hopes and our founder

In 1997, while serving as missionaries in the country of Ireland, Deneen Bryan and her husband Steve faced a life-changing journey when their daughter, Christina, was born with a rare liver disease. Living in Dublin during this time, they traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where Christina underwent multiple surgeries. In March 1998, Christina was transferred to the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital, where she received a living-related liver transplant, with Deneen as her donor. Tragically, just over a month later, complications from the transplant led to Christina’s passing at just five months and 22 days old.

 

During their hospital stay, a professional photographer offered a free photo session for their family in the hospital. This act of kindness, along with photos taken by her family, inspired Deneen to later pursue photography herself.

 

In 2010, Deneen began offering professional photography to families in women’s and children’s hospitals. After relocating to North Carolina, she volunteered at the local Ronald McDonald House and spent countless hours photographing babies and children in the NICU and PICU, at no cost to the family.

 

By 2013, Deneen expanded her work to hospitals in other states, officially founding Capturing Hopes Photography. In 2016, recognizing the need for bereavement support, she launched the Little Lights Program, a hospital-based photography service to support families experiencing loss. Today, Little Lights operates in several hospitals across North Carolina and is a stand alone support program sustained by staff within each hospital. 

 

Deneen's work has gained worldwide recognition, with features by the BBC, The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Fox, The Daily Mail, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Blaze, The Meredith Vieira Show, People Magazine, and numerous other major media outlets. Named Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year for North Carolina, Deneen’s story has reached global audiences, and with nearly 1 million followers and over 1 billion views across social media, she is a leading voice for preemie, childrens, and infant bereavement photography, passionately raising awareness about its importance in women’s and children’s hospitals worldwide.

 

Additional Programs 

In 2024, Deneen and the Capturing Hopes program team launched Capturing Mamas, a program piloted in Wilmington, NC to support mothers experiencing high-risk pregnancies who will remain in the hospital until their baby's birth. This initiative offers compassionate support and photography services to these mothers during their extended hospital stay. 

 In 2025, Deneen and the Capturing Hopes team will launch their first Capturing Kids program, offering professional photography to children in hospitals who are experiencing a prolonged or difficult hospital stay. This new initiative will be available in children's; cancer units, transplant units, intensive care units, cardiology units, and general pediatric care units. 

 

Contact Deneen

Today, Deneen continues to create new programs as needed and is available to hospitals for photography program consultation and creation. Deneen is also available to speak at hospitals, conferences, and in the community about the importance of professional photography as a support program within hospitals. Deneen shares her own story of loss to encourage awareness and support for families going through a hospital journey with their own children.  

To contact Deneen, please email capturinghopesdirectors@gmail.com