HENDERSON (FOX5) — Mikel Conrad has been affectionately dubbed “Henderson’s Photographer.”
Given he was born and raised there and has worked as a photographer for 35 years, it may be an appropriate title.
“It’s been exciting because you get to see the families that photographed or the kids that photographed many years ago. Now you start seeing their families come in, you start to see the growth,” Conrad said.
Once aspiring to be a first responder, Conrad has accepted his career as a visual storyteller, capturing emotion from behind his camera lens.
Over the past few years, a new focus caught Conrad’s eye.
Snapping portraits of military veterans.
“My favorite uncle, just my mentor in a lot of ways, served military during Korea times. For his 80th birthday, he gave me about 600 slides that I was to go through and he wanted a book. So I created a book for him with all those slides and he had all sorts of stories,” Conrad said.
“There’s so many more people out there from World War 2, Korea and Vietnam that have these stories and they need to be told. So we don’t forget their service, that they did, whether they are on the frontline or where they were back behind supporting the frontline.”
Each pristine picture takes Conrad back to the stories his subjects shared of their uniformed past.
It inspired him to take on a new patriotic project.
“250 faces of service and sacrifice,” Conrad said.
“By July next year, I’ll have photographed from 250 or more veterans from as early as just signing up and as far back as I can go.”
250 is tied to an important anniversary.
July 4, 2026, marks a quarter millennium since the United States was established.
Conrad feels being able to share the stories of those who have fought for our freedom throughout history is the least he can do.
“I did not serve this my way that I can help and bring them their stories to life and support them and whatever I can do,” Conrad said.
Conrad hopes to have a gallery to fully display his work by the time the Fourth of July rolls around.
Beyond just the photos, he plans to have biographical information tied to each veteran so people can fully take in the story of their service.
You can check out Conrad’s work by clicking here.
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