On Saturday September 14, S4C and the Asociación Cultural Rios en Cataluña held a photowalk and Instagram competition in Barcelona to raise funds for projects in Los Rios in the Bahoruco province of the Dominican Republic. It was the first collaboration between the two organizations.

Some 60 Dominicans of all ages signed up for the event, which began at the Palau Alòs in the La Ribera neighbourhood that is home to most of Barcelona’s Dominicans. Each participant paid a registration fee that went to the association. Antonio Amendola, founder of S4C, said he hoped that it marked the start of a long association between the two groups.

The participants then split up into smaller groups, each accompanied by an S4C photographer who advised them on composition and technique. The groups spent the next two hours on a walk around the neighbourhood, taking pictures with cameras and mobiles. Those with the Instagram app entered their pictures into the competition. Each group also had a series of portraits taken in the Parc de la Ciutadella by S4C photographers.

Everyone then returned to the Palau Alòs for the results of the Instagram competition. There was an added degree of excitement when the winners had to identify themselves as the unnamed photos were presented on the screen. The joint second prize was shared by Ángel Rojas and Kancio Pérez, who also took first prize.

Kancio Perez Sena

Kancio Perez Sena

El Giga Rojas

At the end of the day, the Asociación Cultural Los Ríos en Cataluña, which in the past has raised funds for educational projects, a truck for the fire department, an ambulance and the purchase of land for a public square, had raised money for its latest project of funding a minibus to transport children to school from the poorest areas of Los Ríos.

William Pérez, spokesman for the association, said the day had been a great success – and a lot of fun – and hoped that the Los Rios association and S4C would continue to work together.

Un paseo Fotográfico especial con Shoot 4 Change y la Asociación Cultural Los Ríos en Cataluña a Barcelona

El Sábado 14 de septiembre Shoot 4 Change junto con la Asociación Cultural Los Ríos en Cataluña, realizaron un Paseo Fotográfico acompañado de un concurso fotográfico a través de Instagram en Barcelona cuyo objetivo fue recaudar fondos destinados a diversos proyectos en Los Ríos,  provincia de Bahoruco, República Dominicana.  Esta, cabe señalar, fue la primera colaboración entre las dos organizaciones.

Cerca de setenta dominicanos de todas las edades, participaron en el evento que comenzó en el Palau Alòs del barrio La Ribera, lugar que actualmente alberga a la mayoría de los dominicanos que viven en Barcelona. 

Cada participante colaboró con una cuota de registro que se entregó a la Asociación. Antonio Amendola, fundador de Shoot 4 Change, hizo énfasis en que espera que ésta sea sólo la primera de una larga serie de colaboraciones entre ambas organizaciones.

Los participantes fueron divididos en pequeños grupos guiados por fotógrafos de Shoot 4 Change que aconsejaron sobre composición y técnica. Durante dos horas los grupos recorrieron el barrio fotografiando con cámaras y teléfonos móviles. Aquellos que contaban con la aplicación Instagram, tuvieron la posibilidad de enviar sus imágenes a un concurso. Adicionalmente, los fotógrafos de Shoot4Change retrataron a cada grupo en el Parc de la Ciutadella.

Al finalizar se volvió al Palau Alòs en donde se dieron los resultados del concurso de Instagram. La emoción aumentó cuándo los ganadores tuvieron que identificarse a sí mismos tras ver su fotografía anónima proyectada en pantalla. El segundo lugar fue compartido por Ángel Rojas y Kancio Pérez, quien además ganó el primer lugar.

Al final del día, la Asociación Cultural Los Ríos en Cataluña, que ya antes había logrado recaudar fondos para proyectos educativos, así como la compra de un camión para el departamento de bomberos, una ambulancia, y terrenos para una nueva plaza pública, logró su objetivo de reunir el dinero necesario para la compra de un camión escolar para los niños de las zonas más pobres de Los Ríos.

William Pérez, presidente de la Asociación, dijo que el día había sido un gran éxito (muy divertido) y que espera que la Asociación Los Ríos y Shoot 4 Change puedan seguir trabajando juntos.

Nonostante il freddo e la pioggia, gli Igers a Shoot4Change sono riusciti a raccontare per immagini la situazione dell’Aquila a più di tre anni dal disastroso terremoto.

La galleria di immagini è realizzata grazie a SeeJay, partner tecnologico di S4C, con cui stiamo sperimentando nuove modalità di coinvolgimento della community (in questo caso in abbinamento ai nostri amici della comunità degli Instagramers).

Che senso ha un instawalk? Più di quel che si pensi.

A volte il racconto di situazioni serie (o drammatiche come in questo caso) può essere svolto in maniera leggera come può essere una semplice…passeggiata.

Segnalateci un progetto, un’idea, una passeggiata, un evento “instant”, una storia. E cercheremo di realizzarlo insieme. Magari con i nostri amici Instagramers.

Nel frattempo, se vi va, commentate qui la vostra esperienza a l’Aquila.

AA

Somehow we expected this but not that fast.

 Many volunteer Photographers joined us (yes, you’re still in time! Fill this form if you want to join the Team) and were dispatched to most affected areas which  include but are not limited to Coney Island, Breezy Point, Staten Island, Rockaway, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Red Hook to assist families. 

Families started contacting us and we teamed up with other fantastic Associations as Care for Sandy and Pics for Proceeds  (if you’ve been hit by Sandy and need our photographic assistance fill this form).

(click to see a photo gallery)

The devastation of Hurricane Sandy is of catastrophic proportion with thousands of people displaced and homes destroyed and we decided (through our S4C New York team coordinated by Yelena Futeran and the NJ Team coordinated by HeatherJo Mangum ) to do our part.

We are trying to help people  recover the memories and preserve their history by restoring damaged family photos and create points of photo collection for those lost and found familiy photos scattered all over.

An East Side coffee shop provides power via a generator so that neighborhood residents can charge their phones. Two days after Hurricane Sandy many Manhattan residents are still without power. (click to see the gallery)

But when you launch something like this and you are a non profit Association on a VERY tight budget like S4C (actually, our account is dangerously approaching the zero figure but who cares) then you got to face logistics issues.

The field team was struggling in figuring out how to obtain tons of scanners and who will spend the hours scanning and then they realized that they can take a digital print through their Iphones and other smartphones.

They determined that the most efficient way to run the Photo Rescue Project was with iPhones….

I’ve asked Yelena to update me and a few minutes ago she wrote:

“The family we are helping  had  thousands of photos.  When we began to go through the images, so many of them were covered in mold and sea water.. it’s was devastating to see this.  The family in trying to recover the images submerged under 6 feet of water, placed them on paper-towels and then put them into plastic containers, which only caused more damage. 

(click to see the gallery)

We removed the photos to let them air out.. washed them and used our Iphones to create digital files.  Actually, this worked so much better then we anticipated.  We were able to ditigize the images in a very fast pace and also crop the images that were damaged as we were taking the photos. 

We also used Instagram Filters to help in restoring the lost color and fading of the photos. Once done, we created a smumug photo account, this site allows us to create photo albums that are password protected.  We are also able to upload the images, send the link to the album and let the person determine if they wish to keep the images online or upload them to their computer. 

I think this is a process that anyone can use and we encourage people to do so.  This a fantastic and simple way that our modern technology can be used to preserve and  restore old photographs.  Pretty much everyone has an IPhone now and we ask anyone with one to partake.”

(click to see the photo gallery by a S4C NYC collective Team: Carla Ciatto, Angelo Merendino, Gretchen Robinette, Grace Roth)

 I think there’s nothing more to add to this but calling on your help. We need logistic and photographic help.

We are not asking for money. We do not want money. We want your creativity, we want ideas on how to save and restore their memories and histories. We need you.

Up for the challenge?

Antonio Amendola