Charity Fest: Giving Back – Pictage Style!
Charity Fest has brought out an incredibly diverse series of projects, all from photographers who are giving back, but here’s an event where photographers and a company, Pictage, gave back. They recruited hundreds of volunteers to help create new family keepsakes for memories lost in the 2005 Katrina disaster. So, the industry’s leading provider of online image hosting put its influence and resources to the very best purpose and offered free photo shoots to more than 200 New Orleans families.
For me, the excitement of an event like this starts at the top, with support from Jim Collins, Pictage’s CEO. It’s one thing to have a great idea, but another to get everybody behind it! And, without question the response from the Pictage staff, speakers and attendees at Partner Con was amazing!
“New Orleans has bounced back as a major center of creativity and celebration after Katrina, but many families are still rebuilding their lives. With hundreds of distinguished professional photographers joining us for PartnerCon, we were inspired to invite them to participate in a community service initiative that will have an enduring, positive impact on some of the Crescent City’s most hard-hit families,” said Jim Collins, chief executive officer of Pictage, Inc., and an experienced photographer. “After hearing the heartbreaking stories from affected families about losing everything precious to them, including their photos, we felt strongly that the Pictage community is in a unique position to be of service to them by capturing moments and creating new family portraits that will endure and be celebrated for years to come.”
Jim Collins, above right, gets directly involved with a subject during a Katrina relief portrait session.
Joe Buissink and Ron Dawson, pictured above, were just two of the industry icons involved in the Pictage Katrina Project.
Pictage set up numerous shooting stations at the Oscar J. Dunn Lodge, No. 85 F&AM, in Gretna, La. Each station was equipped with professional lighting equipment, multiple back-drops, and other related gear, to accommodate all participating families. Every shoot, lasting approximately 15 minutes, was managed by a volunteer team consisting of a professional photographer, an assistant, a runner, and a laptop attendant overseeing image downloads. Upon the shoot’s completion, the family will receive a CD-ROM containing their images, and a package of assorted prints will be delivered to their home in the next few weeks, in time for the Christmas holiday.
One of the first orders is ready to ship to a Katrina victim family!
On the NILMDTS site is a Winston Churchill quote that I’ve used before, “You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.” Well, to put that into contemporary business terms Pictage is building a reputation by what they give back, and if you have any doubts, circle the dates for next year’s Partner Con, November 16-18 and see for yourself!
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December 2nd, 2009
Hey Skip, thanks for your involvement and for this great mention. It’s funny that the photos of Mr. Willis are the ones that you used. He came in when we were done. We’d already packed up and were preparing to leave. When people saw him, in that great suit and with that smile, they sprang into action. Two Pictage employees, Scott Miura and Monty Jessop held up the backdrop, and Pictage member photographer Spencer Clark grabbed his camera and we were off!
This day was amazing. It was one of those, ‘go big or go home’ moments. Other folks who were critical to our success were Will Jacks, Chris Williams, Misty Miotto, and Matt and Enna Grazier. Each of these folks contributed countless hours to making my hair-brained dream come true. There is no way I could ever thank them enough.
CBS Evening News came and they spent a lot of time with us. I heard from the producer the other day that the story may still run. I’d love that. Photographers do so much to give back, and for the most part, they’re unsung heroes. I’d love to see their footage of photographer Lorenzo Nicholson or Kate Gardiner on the national news. The shoot was the same day as the Fort Irwin disaster so we were preempted. Such is life.
Thanks for all of your help and support Skip. We couldn’t do this stuff without you.
Onward!