Bobby - Bobby Sager

I’ve spent much of the last twenty years living in traumatized communities around the world while doing the work of my family foundation. I’ve worked as an American in Afghanistan, a white person in Rwanda, and a Jew in Palestine. I met the people featured in my photographs during those travels.

The most transcendent moments have come when I least expected them — from sharing in the joys and frustrations of ordinary people’s everyday lives. These photographs were born out of those everyday moments. Lives born of hardship, photographs born of journey, human connection born out of respect for our common dignity, and an open mind and heart about “the other.”

My motivation in bringing these images together people is not for you to feel bad for these people; they do not want our pity. My hope is that by zooming into the details of their lives, viewers will feel their presence and be inspired by their sacrifices. By also by creating an “eyeball-to-eyeball exchange,” I hope audiences feel both confronted and reassured. The world may be screwed up, but before we can really help fix it, we must first fix ourselves.

Whether it is a virus, the environment, or the way we treat one another, hopefully we understand how radically interconnected we are. We need to find our way back to each other and to ourselves. Everyone has to connect their own dots. I hope my work, in some small way, helps you to connect yours.

JOURNEY

2000
2001
2002
2003
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2013
2015
2016
2017
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

2000

President Clinton at the residence giving the family a personal sendoff before we begin our year-long journey.

Started Sager Family Foundation and Traveling Roadshow; built three schools in Nepal as first initiative.

2001

Launched Science for Monks with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama introducing science to monastics for first time in 1,500 years of Tibetan Buddhism.

2002

Built Medical Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan to teach female doctors as trainers of woman community healthcare workers.

2003

Launched Sager Ganza microlending program in Rwanda to assist women entrepreneurs after the genocide; now offers loan and banking services to any local small business owners.

Funded building of Teacher Training Center in Northwestern Frontier Province of Pakistan.

2006

Launched Hands Up Not Handouts program in Rwanda and Palestine to give female handicraft artisans access to global markets.

2007

Launched Sager Science Leadership Program to train Tibetan Monks and Nuns at Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala, India.

2008

The Power of the Invisible Sun photographs of children from conflict zones seen by over 4M people during The Police worldwide reunion tour.

Funded building of school in Lo Manthang, ancient 700-year-old walled city in Mustang, Nepal with Sting and his family.

2009

Launched Hope is a Game Changer program that provides indestructible soccer balls to organizations that teach kids life skills through soccer.

Published The Power of the Invisible Sun (book launch at Donna Karan, NYC, and Saatchi Gallery, London) featured in NBC's The Today Show, ABC Evening News, and recommended by UNICEF.

2010

Co-funded reconstruction of Tigers Nest Temple (or Taktsang) an ancient Buddhist temple outside of Paro in Kingdom of Bhutan.

2013

Published Beyond the Robe featuring photographs and essays on first decade of Science for Monks program (Powerhouse Books). His Holiness at our residence for the launch of Beyond the Robe.

Funded first Science Center for Tibetan monks at Sera Jey Monastery in Bylakuppe, India.

2015

Expanded Science for Monks program to Bhutan and Nepal.

2016

Expanded Science for Monks science education program to include Tibetan nuns.

2017

Published Untouched Octaves: Reflections on Life, Love, and Society, a book with Sager photographs co-authored with Pakistani poet Amin Hashwani (Liberty Books).