Last year, we sent out a call for your second hand digital cameras, and you responded! In less than a month, we reached our goal of 20 cameras to use for Wichi/H2O, a photography project that puts your cameras in the hands of children living in Wichi communities in the Salta province of Argentina.
Since then, we’ve had an exhibition of the photos at the Casa de la Cultura in Salta, Argentina. There is currently an exhibition of the photos at the fabulous Jueves a la Mesa closed door restaurant in Buenos Aires. And we have begun to sell the photos on our Artslant site.
None of this would have been possible without you, the camera donors, and your support. We cannot thank you enough.
A Peek Into Our Visit To Hickmann
We arrived with two carloads of donated clothing and food, handed out the clothing, made lunch for the almost 200 people in the community and while lunch was cooking, we handed out cameras.
The kids loved it! And they learned so unbelievably quickly.
Most of them only speak the Wichi language, so we weren’t able to communicate directly in Spanish, but it didn’t seem to matter. They picked up the basics in seconds and then began teaching each other how to zoom, change filters. We returned to Salta with more than three thousand photos.
Here are a few of our favorite photos:
You can see more by checking out and joining our Cloudhead Art Facebook page.
Our Next Goal!
Help us bring 80 digital cameras back to Argentina!
Hickmann alone has at least 50 children in the community. We’re also working with students in other communities around Salta. From adolescents in a juvenile detention center to twelve year olds living in poor communities on the outskirts of Salta and more. Until now, we share cameras when we don’t have enough, but our goal would be to give each student a camera for him or herself, so they can continue to experiment and learn how to use their cameras.
Want to get involved? Here’s how you can help!
What We Need?
Your functioning digital cameras. We would like cameras of at least 8 megapixels. If yours is less but still in good shape, feel free to send it along as well. They should be in good working condition. It’s best if they take drugstore batteries, but if you have one that requires a proprietary battery, please include it along with the charger.
If you have SD or XD cards of at least 2GB, that is a huge plus. Memory sticks and battery rechargers also greatly appreciated.
How To Send Your Cameras?
For people living in the United States or anywhere other than Argentina.
You can mail the cameras directly to our Atlanta mailing address.
Leigh Shulman
c/o Jane Steele
5505 Roswell Road, Ste 300
Atlanta, GA 30342
For people living in Argentina:
If you live anywhere other than Salta, you can send me a text to my Argentina cell 0387 154 109924 or e-mail us and we can figure a way to get them.
If you live in or are visiting Salta, call or text and let’s go for a coffee. You can bring them then.
And please include your name and e-mail address along with the camera so we can let you know we’ve received your donation as well as send updates of how the project is progressing.
Any Questions? Comment? Thoughts? Feel free to e-mail us at leigh (at) cloudhead.org.
