You would expect these photos to be emotional, but you might be surprised the emotion is often hope and even gratitude.

Professional photographers Lisa Uesugi and Laurie Breeden Callies founded Project Focus three years ago as a community service project. The idea was to use photography to enhance self-reflection and self-esteem in kids. There are sometimes things that children can express in an image that words could never capture.

This past year, the two women selected Kids Hurt Too, an organization that helps children going through the grief of losing a family member.

Children selected to participate in the project went through a 12-week internship where they learned the fundamentals of taking black and white photos with 35 mm cameras and then picked a subject, someone who made a difference to them, to photograph.

The resulting portraits are sometimes heart-wrenching but quite powerful and inspiring.

One photo taken by a 7-year old boy shows his beloved Uncle Junior lying on his back under a truck, a cache of tools around his head, a wary smile and a meaty shaka. The accompanying text written by the boy explains that he lost his daddy and Uncle Junior was his daddy's brother.

"Uncle Jr. promised me that he would always protect me. He always asks if I'm okay and then he hugs me," 7-year old Nokeakua wrote.

A picture of Nokeakua, a professional portrait taken by Uesugi, accompanies Uncle Junior's truck-fixing shaka. All the children participating in the project have their pictures taken by either Uesugi or Breeden Callies — lovely, noble photographs that they will keep after the show is over.

In Nokeakua's picture, he is sitting on the sidewalk with a sweet, just-lost-another-baby-tooth smile and a glow in his eyes that says he knows he is loved.

Uncle Junior had to write something, too, as do all the people chosen by the kids for the pictures they took.

"Nokeakua is always like an opihi with me; he still wants to be where I am and go where I go," Uncle Junior, aka Jerome Nakachi, wrote. "I really love to teach him all the knowledge and skills that I learned as a child and once I found out that Nokeakua excelled 100% in everything we have done together, I decided to put my whole heart, soul and unconditional love into what we do. He will never forget that his dad is his guardian angel working through me to make all of his dreams come true. Nokeakua has already changed my life, too."

The exhibit, entitled "Lost and Found," is opening to the public tomorrow at Honolulu Hale. It will run through Jan. 29 and is free.

You can also see photos from "Lost and Found" online at www.projectfocushawaii.com.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.