About
Want to know a little about me?
My name is Grae Gerster and I am the creator and photographer for Project EMS. I work my main day job as a paramedic for American Ambulance. I have been in EMS and Fire for 13 years in a variety of positions, including fire fighter, EMT, and paramedic. I have taken photos for a good chunk of my life, but became serious about becoming professional about 2 years ago. I work primarily in the wedding and portrait space, but enjoy photographing photojournalistically at active scenes and events as my main passion.
What is Project EMS
So you may be wondering exactly what Project EMS is and
how it came about. Well, as I mentioned above I have
worked in this industry for over a decade. During this time
I have maintained a love for the field that I enjoy sharing
with others. As I looked around the internet I noticed a
severe lack of quality images of EMS providers. Yes, there
were tons of Stock images and poorly shot images from
cellphones. But there weren't really any good images. So
I decided that I would make it my goal to go out into the
field and capture moments as they happend in real life,
with an artistic eye instead of just running and gunning.
I approached a few of the local ambulance companies, but since I didn't yet have a portfolio to establish credability I didn't have success in working with them and had to take shots as I came across them.
With this in mind I expanded my reach to include Fire Departments more heavily in my project and approached my local department, Reedley Fire. I joined in an agreement with them that allowed me to recieve dispatch information on fires and accidents so that I could respond alongside them and photograph their department more actively. This has allowed me to capture and create many of the images that you have seen here and on my Facebook page.
As time goes on I hope to expand my coverage to neighboring towns, Fresno County, and local Ambulance providers so that I might continue in my project.
Why do I do it?
So you might be asking why I do this? Or at least I assume you do since you are reading this section.
The reason I do this, first and foremost, is because I enjoy it. I get a thrill at being back on the fire line and seeing everything that goes on there. I find photographing the men and women on the line challenging, because I come across such a wide variety of situations and scenarios that I have to work to overcome. From different times of day and night, motion of the fire, smoke, and just the large variety of people I come across.
The other reason, and honestly its probably the more important, is that these fire fighters, EMTs, and Paramedics work hard on a daily basis and rarely have the opportunity to see what it is they do captured on film in a quality manner. I do this so that they can share these moments of their life with friends and family with quality images. Not just some picture on the news or one they happened to snap with their cell phone as they pull their line.
Its important for me that everyone out there has a chance to see these brave men and women doing what they do best and risking their live so that we all might better understand what it is they do.