Beckman, who is living without heat in her gutted home, asked Garfinkle to keep the photos until she has a spot to put them.

"These are pictures from all my life, my children, and I am very appreciative of her help," Beckman said.

And Garfinkle's offer of free photo sessions to families affected by Sandy still stands. She can be reached through her website, 4mothersphoto.com.

Putting life's problems in perspective

For weeks, advertising photographer Carlos Chiossone sought out personal stories among the devastation left by Superstorm Sandy.

"There are plenty of volunteers, so as a photographer I decided to simply get their stories out to try to get more help for them," he explained.

Chiossone said the conversations helped put his life into perspective.

"As I interviewed some of the people affected and companies trying to come back to life, I realized how each individual makes their own problem the biggest one of the moment. Part of my motivation was to show how easy we had it," he said. "Four days without power or showering is not a big deal. Losing your house is another story."

He spoke to several residents of Staten Island, N.Y., including Janice Kennedy, whose house at New Dorp Beach was leveled by the storm even she was one of the few people on her street to board up her home.

Kennedy told her story on camera and showed Chiossone what little remained of her property. Kennedy's emotions were raw as she described what it's like to face starting your life over.

"My husband died three years ago, we were hit with Irene last year, and now this. I've gotta leave. I'm done," she said, her voice shaking. "We've lost everything. I got married in this house. My son grew up in this house. There's nothing left."

Weeks later, Chiossone has been unable to reach Kennedy but is eager to follow up with her. In the meantime, he continues to document life in New Dorp Beach, and sees hope.

"What was chaos almost a month ago here in New Dorp Beach now has gained a little sense of normalcy." he said.

Spitting rhymes for Sandy relief

The storm flooded Eduardo Ramos' apartment on Avenue C in Manhattan, but he feels lucky. He and his roommates had time to save all their belongings as the water was coming in, and his roommate's family welcomed him to stay in their home on the Upper East Side.

It only felt right to do what he could to help others not so fortunate.

In the weeks after Sandy, he and his friend CJ Richards -- both professional models, actors and rappers -- joined the Rockaway Beach Surf Club's relief efforts in the Queens beach community. In between jobs and castings they went to Queens to knock on doors, assess needs and help families remove moldy furniture.

They wanted to find a way to help on the days they couldn't physically be in Queens, which led them to rapping for victims. The friends, who had recently begun performing freestyle hip-hop on the streets for fun, set up their amp and microphone and performed raps on demand for $1, with the money going to Sandy relief efforts.

"One time a girl said 'rap about my friend's jeans,' we just started going off on that. At Astor Place, a couple was from York in the UK, and we started rapping about London ... You just kind of let your mind go," Ramos explained.

So far they've rapped in Times Square, the Meatpacking District and Astor Place in Lower Manhattan, where iReporter and friend Chris Luna found them and recorded a video.