DignityNYC was a huge success!

$11K+ in prints sold and $20K+ raised overall for Acumen Fund in partnership with NY for Acumen. Final #s coming soon…

In the meantime, here are some pre-event setup photos, including our awesome volunteers Courtney Schoon and Christina Lappas, who were invaluable in helping hang the show. Thanks guys! 

“I followed this girl out into the water during Pongal, the Tamil New Year festival. She was one of thousands if not millions, that day on Chennai’s Marine Beach, the second longest in the world. On the third and final day of the festival, families throng to the beaches, irrespective of socio-economic class. She was having a personal moment away from the crowds and was unaware of me.”

As I soak in Kirk Mastin’s print, the world population is surging past 7 billion.  India is on pace to become the most populous nation in the world, surpassing China within the next generation.  Our global community is becoming increasingly urbanized and inter-dependent, with growing demands to stay ‘connected’.  My life feels as though it is under constant attack from information and ideas on all sides.  I’m not complaining.  I love it actually.  It’s stimulating. 

Yet, looking on as this woman enters The Ocean I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous.  The place where she stands is a sacred place – where water meets the land – and one of my favorite places in the world.   As a waterman – a swimmer, surfer, and diver – I have a love affair with The Ocean.   It is my place of refuge.  It is my sanctuary from the blistering pace of life digitalized and globalized.  It is the place where I prefer to go when I desperately need to think clearly.  When Mastin writes in his backstory, “She was having a personal moment away from the crowds and was unaware of me,” I knew the feeling exactly.  It happens every time I enter The Ocean and get a quiet reprieve from the near-constant connection.

In Kirk Mastin’s print I see the duality of my own existence. The earthy sand being churned by an energetic sea mirrors the gentle colors of the clothes wrapped around this woman’s dark skin and hair.  The Ocean draws me into my own mind and then back to shore, and my other reality, again.  I feel the “thousands, if not millions” as I leave them behind; but I know I’ll be back because I love the hectic squalor – check my messages, leave an update, schedule that meeting, prepare this presentation, scan the news – of my daily life as a teacher, husband, colleague, and friend in the information age.

As an educator, I do my best to prepare my students for our 21^st century online world. Working with Nuru Project, I can virtually bring my humanities students to New York, around the world, and back into their own lives with engaging projects in photojournalism.  We use Skype to connect with other learners and experts around the world, and share our thoughts and images using various social media and web platforms.  The 14 and 15 year-olds in my class hardly take notice of the whirlwind pace of things. They’re actually far too comfortable if you ask me.  I also want them to know the great power of solitude: the peace and wisdom that can come from being alone with your own thoughts; the true nature of The Ocean, and all of Nature’s other elements; and the knowledge that when we enter The Ocean alone it is “irrespective of socio-economic class” or any other divisions we have created back in our communities. I want to introduce them to the woman in this image.  I want them to remember to stand where she stands.

- Danny

At Nuru Project, we connect photojournalism with causes. Consider benefiting Acumen Fund at checkout with your Kirk Mastin print purchase. Acumen Fund invests in Indian entrepreneurs who are building businesses that provide services like housing, water, and healthcare to the poor. You can see this print in person next Wednesday, 11/9 at our Dignity NYC photo auction in support of Acumen Fund.

Danny Kinzer is a teacher at the Kaohsiung American School in Taiwan. He is a surfer, an avid traveler, a lover of kids, and an extremely tall individual. Nuru Project CEO JB Reed has been teaching students in Danny’s humanities class about photojournalism via Skype.

Zackary Canepari’s print from Kathputli brings to mind a film-in-the-making about the neighborhood, Tomorrow We Disappear. Producers Jim Goldblum and Adam Weber:“Since the 1970s, Delhi’s magicians, puppeteers, and acrobats have called the tinsel slum, Kathputli Colony, home. Last year the government issued relocation permits to the colony residents; the slum is to be bulldozed, cleared for development. High-rises and a shopping mall are planned in its place. In its modernizing, the world is losing places like Kathputli, and no one notices.”

As developing world cities grow at rapid rates, slums proliferate and the ranks of poor urban dwellers swell. While slums are known for their substandard housing, they often provide residents with proximity to jobs and services, and in the case of Kathputli, an artistically rich local culture. But because slum dwellers are often squatting illegally (although they pay rent to slumlords), they live in constant peril of eviction.

Because Canepari created these images before the current government plan, the beauty that his images capture and the reverence with which he describes Kathputli’s ‘cycle of tradition’ in his handwritten Backstory (below) are rendered bittersweet. The combination of all the white - the beard, the cuff, the bird - and the sense of depth created by his soft focus that would usually convey serenity and purity now begin to evoke melancholy.

In the end, Canepari’s image preserves a quiet yet magical moment from this community on the brink of its final vanishing act.

- Christina 

Our mission at Nuru Project is to connect photojournalism with causes. We’re suggesting that buyers of Zackary Canepari’s print select Acumen Fund as the benefit organization at checkout. Acumen Fundhelps break the cycle of poverty by funding businesses that provide health, water, energy and agriculture services to the poor in India.

Christina Lappas is an alum of the New School’s Graduate Program in International Affairs. She has an eye for photography and a curiosity for urban processes.

So, when I order a print, what’s in the envelope anyway?  Well, first of all, your print. We got this from Taylor after he opened his 8x10 Espen Rasmussen print.

And here are prints by Marco Trovato and Brandon Thibodeaux that we shipped to Kelly earlier this week.

What’s that card with the handwriting on it and why are that dude’s hands so hairy?  Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about Matt’s body hair. But every print comes with a printed version of the photographer’s handwritten Backstory. Backstories explore the photographer’s experience of creating the image. Why were they there? What do they know about the people in the photograph? What happened just before and after this particular frame? 

What’s with all the stamping?  We do love our Nuru Project stamp! We stamp your envelope so that you’ll know your Nuru Project print has arrived when it shows up in the mail. And we stamp the back of your print to remind you that your print purchase supported a good cause.

How do I know my Nuru Project print is the real deal?  Easy! We include an archival foil-backed Label of Authenticity with all the relevant info, including the photographer, a brief image description, the date, the medium, the size and print #, your name, the cause you benefited, and a printed version of the artist’s signature. We recommend that you let your framer apply this to the back of your print.

You said that the prints are numbered? Does that mean they’re part of limited editions?  Limited editioning is about creating scarcity. We believe the true spirit of photojournalism is to tell a story far and wide to an audience passionate about social change. As such, Nuru Project does not limit the quantity of prints we sell for a given image. Just the opposite: we celebrate volume. The more copies a print sells, the more impact it has on a cause and the more it supports the photographer’s work. And we pair volume with moderate prices, allowing us to reach a wide audience and raise more money for causes. Volume = Impact. We do, however, number prints. This is called an Open Edition. 

Here’s a screenshot from my computer of what you can expect to find on your Label of Authenticity, including your Open Edition Print #:

So where can I get a Nuru Project print? Glad you asked! You can purchase prints to benefit Acumen Fund, Architecture for Humanity, Malaria No More, Partners In Health, and Pencils of Promise right here.

- JB

(Source: bit.ly)

When we first met Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, she asked, “What’s your dream?”

Nuru Project was fresh off the first DIGNITY NYC, a highly successful fundraising photo auction that Nuru Project curated for New York for Acumen in July 2009. So we pitched Jacqueline on DIGNITY auctions traveling through other Acumen chapters as they opened around the world.

Eighteen months later, Nuru Project and eight of Acumen Fund’s chapters have passed a major milestone: over $100,000 raised at DIGNITY photo auctions!

After the first New York event, DIGNITY traveled through Acumen chapters in SF, Chicago, Toronto, Dubai, Karachi, DC, Vancouver, and London, with a total attendance of over 1,500 people.

In a recent newsletter, Jacqueline noted the important role that chapters play in spreading Acumen’s ideas. Nuru Project and Acumen Fund’s chapters are honored to be working towards this mission.

We’re also excited to bring DIGNITY back to NYC on November 9^th in honor of Acumen Fund’s 10-Year Anniversary. We hope this will be our largest fundraiser to date.

We will showcase a variety of beautiful prints from renowned photographers that illustrate Acumen Fund’s vision and values. The exhibit will include a number of prints for sale, as well as a smaller number of limited edition prints for silent auction. DIGNITY NYC will be hosted at Studio 450—a beautiful duplex penthouse loft located at 450 West 31st Street.

We hope you join us for this evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and beautiful photos. Acumen Fund’s own Jacqueline Novogratz will be making an appearance at the beginning of the event.

You can buy tickets to the event here.

Dignity NYC
Wednesday, November 9^th 6 – 10pm
Studio 450 @ 450 West 31st Street

DIGNITY continues to be a thoroughly collaborative process. Special thanks to:

Aaron Huey, Acumen Fund’s Business Development team, Adam Crockett, Aesha Arif, Agence VU, Akash Trivedi, Aki Kaltenbach, Ali Jamal Jaffery, Alixandra Fazzina/Noor, Ami Vitale, Anissa Kermali Punjani, Anjelika Deogirikar, Ashley Lawson, Aun Rahman, Ben Hudson, Bertrand Meunier/Tendence Floue, Brooklyn Breweries, Carrie Ting, Chicago for Acumen, Chris McAleenan, Christian Als/Panos, Clementine Jagot, Daniel Berehulak/Getty, Daniel Murray, DC for Acumen, Diya Khalil, Donysha Smith, Dubai for Acumen, Emmanuelle Chiche, Erica Dhawan, Erin Little, Erin Trimble, Espen Rasmussen/Panos, Evelyn Hockstein, Farhat Umar, Favad Soomro, Ganesh Kumar, Getty Images, Haroun Habib, Heidi Krauel, Hima Batavia, Jakob Dall, James Whitlow Delano/Redux, James Wu, Jason Tanner, Jason Wallis, JB Reed, Jeremy Higgs, Jo-Ann Tan, Johan Bavman/Moment, Johann Rousellot, Karthik Janakiraman, Kathryn Obermaier/Sombra Projects, Lauren Jolliff, Magnum Foundation, Marvi Lacar/Reportage by Getty Images, Massimo Berruti/Agence VU, Matthew Watson, Meaghan Casey, Mediha Abdulhay, Meher Jaffri, Michael Margolis, Mikkel Ostergaard/Panos, Miranda Franco, Misbah Naqvi, Modernage Photographic Labs, Mohammed Syed, Molly Alexander, Moment Agency, Monica Yeung, Muneeb Ali, Natasha Qamar, Nathan Laurell, Naveed Ahmad, Nicole Orillac, Nina Sharma West, Noor Images, Nuru Project, Olivia Arthur/Magnum, Omri Bloch, Pakistan for Acumen, Palani Mohan/Reportage by Getty Images, Panos, Pauline Nguyen, Peggy Willett, Per-Anders Petterson/Reportage by Getty Images, Pieter Ten Hoopen/Agence VU, Rabia Ahmed, Rabia Sarwar Qari, Randy Olson/Olson & Farlow, Raul Gallego Abellan, Redux, Reportage by Getty Images, Riccardo Venturi/Contrasto, Ryan Blackburn, Salima Rawji, Sara Irshad, Sarah Reintjes, Sarina Cass, Sasha Dichter, Seth Nemeroff, SF for Acumen, Sombra Projects, Sonya Khan, Stefan Mustain, Steve McCurry/Magnum, Susan Meiselas/Magnum, Tanya Rumble, Teru Kuwayama/Basetrack, The New York Times, Theos Stamoulis, TJ Rak, Tomas Munita, Toronto for Acumen, Tyler Hicks/The New York Times, Vancouver for Acumen, Wendy Wecksell, Yasir Arif Herekar, Yasmina Zaidman, Young Professional for Acumen, Zackary Canepari/Panos, Zee Morin.