Save the Photos
On Tuesday, October 29, the Valencian Community was severely affected by La DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), which had a devastating effect on the region. More than 60,000 people in 78 municipalities suffered the consequences of intense rain and flooding. The human impact has been tragic, with at least 235 fatalities.
Save the Photos is a project that aims to rescue and restore the photographic and family treasures of those affected by the catastrophe but, besides taking care of the photographs, this initiative has a main goal: it aims to provide social and emotional support by giving purpose and meaning to the community. Saving this legacy will offer them hope and positivism and a space for social cohesion. It will also strengthen social networks and recover their identity.
Who are we?
Salvem els fotos is a project promoted by the University of Valencia (UV), the UPV and the rest of Valencian public universities – under the name Network of Valencian Public Universities for Culture.
This initiative has been followed by other institutions, companies and professional associations such as L’ETNO, the Mancomunitat de l’Horta Sud, the Fundació Horta Sud, GE-IIC, ACRE, ICOM, CANON or HOFFMAN. Together we aim to contribute to the safeguarding of the family and collective memory of the municipalities. We are a multidisciplinary team of conservators and other proffesionals linked to photography or heritage and volunteers. For some of the tasks the team will benefit from the participation of civil society and other entities.
Labs
Different centers and working spaces have been settled using the resources of the laboratories of the universities and creating field laboratories in several of the affected municipalities. The field laboratories are in Torrent (Museu Comarcal de l’Horta Sud), Algemesí (Centre d’Art Contemporani d’Algemesí L’ESART), Utiel (Museu Municipal – Casa Alamanzón), Burjassot (Museu d’Història Natural from UV) and in the recent laboratory moved from Alfafar to Castell d’Alaquàs. In order to make these labs possible the UV has joined forces with the following city halls: Utiel, Algemesí, Torrent, Alaquàs, Alfafar.
What do we do?
Since the disaster, professionals and volunteers have been actively collecting and safeguarding these family memories. Audiovisual material is also being recovered in collaboration with the Home Cinema Network. Around 790 families have brought their albums, photographs and home movies to these labs. With 329 records so far, the Museu Comarcal de l’Horta Sud is the main field lab, as it was the first to open near the most affected areas. The main task is to dry all the material to prevent mold or the total loss of the image. Later on we plan to wash, dry flatten and treat the most damaged objects.
How can you help?
Become a volunteer
Sign up as a volunteer at patrimoni@uv.es or contact the laboratory where you want to help. If you are a professional, and you come from abroad, ask about accommodation.
If you are not a professional but want to participate, there are tasks for which no specialization is required, only a desire to help. You can also register for these free university extension courses.
Donate money or materials
We need funding to consolidate our equipment and materials, there are several fundraising campaigns, you can consult the website of the participating entities. Here is a link to the campaign organized by the Fundació Horta Sud, for this project.
Technical support
If you are an professional specialized to the restoration of photographs or have knowledge of digitization, maybe you can help us to solve some of the problems that we can find.