NORTH OXFORD— Three pairs of blue eyes look at the photographer, and with a click of the camera, the image is captured and turned into a memory that can be held in the hand. Creating these dear images and helping to fund research to battle a deadly disease is the twofold purpose of Portraits in Progress.

Award-winning local photographer Teya Rutherford is helping support the battle against breast cancer, one portrait at a time. For the second consecutive year, she is holding Portraits for Progress, a portrait event to celebrate the bonds among women and raise money for breast cancer research and awareness.

This year, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 12 and 13 at Photography by Teya Studio, 1 Norwood Court. Reservations are required.

Most portraits will be available in time for Mother’s Day. For $50, daughters, mothers and grandmothers will receive a portrait session and two professional 5-by-7-inch prints. Additional 5-by-7-inch prints will be available for purchase at a 50 percent discount off normal prices.

Last year, after a family member was diagnosed with breast cancer, Ms. Rutherford started thinking about Mother’s Day and the close relationships shared by women in families. She decided to offer portraits that capture this bond.

Ms. Rutherford said women often put off having photographs taken. “We as women have a love/hate relationship with photographs,” she writes in a blog linked to her Web site. “We (pore) over magazines and admire the artistry and beauty of models, celebrities and what they wear, and we are often the archivers of our own family histories, taking snaps of both milestones and everyday moments. In our culture, we surround ourselves and embrace imagery, and yet we are often hesitant to become that image ourselves. I’m as guilty as the next woman of hiding from the camera, or putting off that family portrait until I lose weight, or cut my hair, or get a better wardrobe.

“The truth is, the people who love us love us exactly as we look right now, and want and need to have our images to reminisce over, to remember with and just to look at and smile when we are apart. Of course, we also want to look our best in photographs, which is why I pride myself on capturing each of my clients as if they themselves were that celebrity in the magazine: Everyone has a certain beauty inside, and it is a joy to be able to bring it out and share it with my portrait work.”

About 20 groups of women had portraits done during the Mother’s Day event last year, Ms. Rutherford said. In addition to mothers and daughters, there were two sister pairs and a four-generational group.

“I am expecting my second daughter, and she is due a few days before Mother’s Day, so that is why I am having the event earlier this year,” Ms. Rutherford said.

Last year’s Portraits for Progress raised more than $1,000 for the Massachusetts affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer. Ms. Rutherford said she hopes to match or exceed that amount this year to help fund breast cancer research, education, screening and testing.

To reserve time for a photo session, mothers and daughters may call Photography by Teya at (508) 892-0107 or (617) 480-6153; e-mail teya@teyaphoto.com or visit the Web site at www.teyaphoto.com.