Becci Manson: (Re)touching lives through photos

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Dejan Vicai Lektor: Tatjana Jevdjic

Before March, 2011, I was a photographic retoucher

Pre marta 2011. bila sam fotografski retušer

based in New York City.

u Njujorku.

We're pale, gray creatures.

Mi smo bleda, siva stvorenja.

We hide in dark, windowless rooms,

Krijemo se u tamnim sobama bez prozora

and generally avoid sunlight.

i uglavnom izbegavamo sunce.

We make skinny models skinnier, perfect skin more perfect,

Od mršavih manekenki pravimo još mršavije, od savršene kože još savršeniju,

and the impossible possible,

od nemogućeg moguće.

and we get criticized in the press all the time,

Mediji nas kritikuju sve vreme,

but some of us are actually talented artists

ali neki od nas su nadareni umetnici

with years of experience

sa godinama iskustva

and a real appreciation for images and photography.

sa stvarnim uvažavanjem slika i fotografija.

On March 11, 2011, I watched from home, as the rest

11. marta 2011. kao i ceo svet, gledala sam od kuće,

of the world did, as the tragic events unfolded in Japan.

tragični razvoj događaja u Japanu.

Soon after, an organization I volunteer with,

Ubrzo nakon toga, organizacija gde sam dobrovoljac,

All Hands Volunteers, were on the ground, within days,

All Hands Volunteers je bila tamo u roku od nekoliko dana,

working as part of the response efforts.

radeći kao deo spasilačkog odgovora.

I, along with hundreds of other volunteers,

Ja i još stotinjak dobrovoljaca,

knew we couldn't just sit at home,

znali smo da ne možemo samo da sedimo kod kuće,

so I decided to join them for three weeks.

tako da sam odlučila da im se pridružim naredne tri nedelje.

On May the 13th, I made my way to the town of Ōfunato.

13. maja sam stigla u grad Ofunato.

It's a small fishing town in Iwate Prefecture,

To je mali ribarski grad u prefekturi Ivate,

about 50,000 people,

sa oko 50.000 stanovnika,

one of the first that was hit by the wave.

jedan od prvih koje je talas udario.

The waters here have been recorded at reaching

Zabeleženo je da su vode dostizale

over 24 meters in height,

visine preko 24 metara

and traveled over two miles inland.

i prešle više od 3 km u unutrašnjost kopna.

As you can imagine, the town had been devastated.

Kao što možete da zamislite, grad je bio opustošen.

We pulled debris from canals and ditches.

Izvlačili smo krhotine iz kanala i jaruga.

We cleaned schools. We de-mudded and gutted homes

Očistili smo škole. Očistili smo domove od mulja i pripremili

ready for renovation and rehabilitation.

za renoviranje i rehabilitaciju.

We cleared tons and tons of stinking, rotting fish carcasses

Uklonili smo tone i tone smrdljivih, trulih ribljih leševa

from the local fish processing plant.

iz lokalnog pogona za preradu ribe.

We got dirty, and we loved it.

Uprljali smo se i svidelo nam se.

For weeks, all the volunteers and locals alike

Nedeljama, podjednako svi dobrovoljci i meštani

had been finding similar things.

su nalazili slične stvari.

They'd been finding photos and photo albums

Nalazili su slike i albume slika

and cameras and SD cards.

i kamere i SD kartice.

And everyone was doing the same.

Svi su radili istu stvar.

They were collecting them up, and handing them in to

Sakupljali su ih i odnosili ih

various places around the different towns for safekeeping.

na razna mesta u okolnim gradovima da bi se čuvali.

Now, it wasn't until this point that I realized

Sve do ovog trenutka nisam shvatala

that these photos were such a huge part

da su ove fotografije bile tako velik deo

of the personal loss these people had felt.

ličnih gubitaka koje su ovi ljudi osetili.

As they had run from the wave, and for their lives,

Kako su bežali od talasa i boreći se za svoje živote,

absolutely everything they had,

apsolutno sve što su imali,

everything had to be left behind.

sve su morali ostaviti za sobom.

At the end of my first week there, I found myself

Na kraju prve nedelje, pomagala sam

helping out in an evacuation center in the town.

u evakuacionom centru u gradu.

I was helping clean the onsen, the communal onsen,

Pomagala sam da se očiste javna topla kupatila (onseni),

the huge giant bathtubs.

ogromne džinovske kade.

This happened to also be a place in the town where

Ovo je takođe bilo mesto u gradu

the evacuation center was collecting the photos.

gde je evakuacioni centar skupljao fotografije.

This is where people were handing them in,

Tu su ih ljudi predavali

and I was honored that day that they actually trusted me

i bila sam počastvovana onog dana kada su mi poverili

to help them start hand-cleaning them.

da im pomognem da ih ručno očiste.

Now, it was emotional and it was inspiring,

Bilo je emocionalno i nadahnjujuće

and I've always heard about thinking outside the box,

i uvek sam slušala da treba razmišljati van okvira,

but it wasn't until I had actually gotten outside of my box

ali dok zapravo nisam bila van svojih okvira

that something happened.

nije se ništa desilo.

As I looked through the photos, there were some

Dok sam pregledavala fotografije, neke su bile

were over a hundred years old,

starije više od sto godina,

some still in the envelope from the processing lab,

neke još uvek u kovertama od razvijanja,

I couldn't help but think as a retoucher

nisam mogla a da ne pomislim da kao retušer

that I could fix that tear and mend that scratch,

mogu da popravim cepanja i ogrebotine

and I knew hundreds of people who could do the same.

i znala sam stotine ljudi koji bi mogli isto.

So that evening, I just reached out on Facebook

Te noći, posegla sam preko Fejsbuka

and asked a few of them, and by morning

i pitala njih nekoliko i do jutra

the response had been so overwhelming and so positive,

odziv je bio toliko ogroman i pozitivan

I knew we had to give it a go.

da sam znala da moramo da probamo.

So we started retouching photos.

Počeli smo da retuširamo fotografije.

This was the very first.

Ovo je bila prva.

Not terribly damaged, but where the water had caused

Nije strašno oštećena, ali gde je voda uzrokovala

that discoloration on the girl's face

promenu boje na licu devojčice

had to be repaired with such accuracy and delicacy.

moralo je da se popravi sa velikom preciznošću i delikatnošću.

Otherwise, that little girl isn't going to look

U suprotnom, ta devojčica neće ličiti

like that little girl anymore, and surely that's as tragic

više na tu devojčicu, to je zasigurno tragično

as having the photo damaged.

isto kao da je fotografija oštećena.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Over time, more photos came in, thankfully,

Tokom vremena, pristizalo je više fotografija, na sreću,

and more retouchers were needed,

i bilo je potrebno još retušera,

and so I reached out again on Facebook and LinkedIn,

tako da sam ponovo posegla preko Fejsbuka i LinkedIna

and within five days, 80 people wanted to help

i u roku od pet dana 80 ljudi je htelo da pomogne

from 12 different countries.

iz 12 različitih država.

Within two weeks, I had 150 people

U roku od dve nedelje, imala sam 150 ljudi

wanting to join in.

voljnih da pomognu.

Within Japan, by July, we'd branched out

U Japanu, do jula, proširili smo se

to the neighboring town of Rikuzentakata,

do susednog grada Rikuzentakatana

further north to a town called Yamada.

severnije do grada zvanoga Jamada.

Once a week, we would set up our scanning equipment

Jednom nedeljno, postavili bismo opremu za skeniranje

in the temporary photo libraries that had been set up,

u privremeno postavljene biblioteke fotografija

where people were reclaiming their photos.

gde su ljudi dobijali svoje fotografije nazad.

The older ladies sometimes hadn't seen a scanner before,

Ponekad starije žene nikad dotad nisu videle skenere,

but within 10 minutes of them finding their lost photo,

ali u roku od 10 minuta kako su našli svoju izgubljenu fotografiju,

they could give it to us, have it scanned,

mogli su nam je dati da se skenira,

uploaded to a cloud server, it would be downloaded

postavi na "oblak" servere, odakle bi je skinuo

by a gaijin, a stranger,

neki gajidžin, stranac,

somewhere on the other side of the globe,

negde sa druge strane sveta

and it'd start being fixed.

i počeo da je popravlja.

The time it took, however, to get it back

Međutim, vreme potrebno da se fotografija vrati

is a completely different story,

je sasvim drugačija priča

and it depended obviously on the damage involved.

i zavisilo je naravno od oštećenja.

It could take an hour. It could take weeks.

Moglo je da traje sat. Moglo je trajati nedeljama.

It could take months.

Moglo je trajati mesecima.

The kimono in this shot pretty much had to be hand-drawn,

Kimono na ovoj slici je manje-više trebalo da se ručno nacrta

or pieced together, picking out the remaining parts of color

ili da se sastavi, birajući ostatke od boja

and detail that the water hadn't damaged.

i detalja koje voda nije oštetila.

It was very time-consuming.

Zahtevalo je mnogo vremena.

Now, all these photos had been damaged by water,

Sve ove fotografije oštetila je voda,

submerged in salt water, covered in bacteria,

bile su u slanoj vodi, punoj bakterija,

in sewage, sometimes even in oil, all of which over time

u kanalizaciji, ponekad i u nafti, sve to vremenom

is going to continue to damage them,

nanosi štetu,

so hand-cleaning them was a huge part of the project.

ručno čišćenje je bilo veliki deo projekta.

We couldn't retouch the photo unless it was cleaned,

Nismo mogli da retuširamo fotografije dok se ne očiste,

dry and reclaimed.

osuše i preuzmu.

Now, we were lucky with our hand-cleaning.

Imali smo sreće sa ručnim čišćenjem.

We had an amazing local woman who guided us.

Imali smo neverovatnu lokalnu ženu koja nas je vodila.

It's very easy to do more damage to those damaged photos.

Veoma je lako napraviti još štete na već oštećenim fotografijama.

As my team leader Wynne once said,

Kao što je moj vođa tima, Vin, jednom rekao,

it's like doing a tattoo on someone.

to je kao da radite tetovažu na nekome.

You don't get a chance to mess it up.

Nemate šansu da zabrljate.

The lady who brought us these photos was lucky,

Žena koja nam je donela ove fotografije imala je sreće,

as far as the photos go.

što se tiče fotografija.

She had started hand-cleaning them herself and stopped

Počela je sama da ih ručno čisti i prestala je

when she realized she was doing more damage.

kada je shvatila da ih još oštećuje.

She also had duplicates.

Takođe je imala duplikate.

Areas like her husband and her face, which otherwise

Područja kao njen suprug i njeno lice, koje bi inače

would have been completely impossible to fix,

bilo nemoguće popraviti,

we could just put them together in one good photo,

mogli smo da sastavimo u jednu dobru fotografiju

and remake the whole photo.

i da napravimo celu fotografiju.

When she collected the photos from us,

Kada je preuzela fotografije od nas,

she shared a bit of her story with us.

podelila je delić svoje priče sa nama.

Her photos were found by her husband's colleagues

Njene fotografije su našle kolege njenog supruga

at a local fire department in the debris

u ruševinama lokalne vatrogasne stanice

a long way from where the home had once stood,

daleko od mesta gde je nekada bio njihov dom

and they'd recognized him.

i prepoznali su ga.

The day of the tsunami, he'd actually been in charge

Na dan cunamija, on je bio zadužen

of making sure the tsunami gates were closed.

da osigura da su brane od cunamija zatvorene.

He had to go towards the water as the sirens sounded.

Morao je da ide ka vodi kada su se oglasile sirene.

Her two little boys, not so little anymore, but her two boys

Njena dva, ne više tako mala dečaka,

were both at school, separate schools.

su bila u odvojenim školama.

One of them got caught up in the water.

Jednog od njih je odnela voda.

It took her a week to find them all again

Trebalo joj je nedelju dana da ih nađe

and find out that they had all survived.

i otkrije da su svi preživeli.

The day I gave her the photos also happened to be

Dan kada sam joj predala fotografije je takođe bio

her youngest son's 14th birthday.

14. rođendan njenog najmlađeg sina.

For her, despite all of this, those photos

Za nju, uprkos svemu, te fotografije

were the perfect gift back to him,

su bile savršen poklon njemu,

something he could look at again, something he remembered from before

nešto što je mogao ponovo da gleda, nešto čega se sećao pre

that wasn't still scarred from that day in March

nastalih martovskih ožiljaka

when absolutely everything else in his life had changed

kada se apsolutno sve u njegovom životu promenilo

or been destroyed.

ili uništilo.

After six months in Japan,

Nakon šest meseci u Japanu,

1,100 volunteers had passed through All Hands,

1.100 dobrovoljaca je prošlo kroz All Hands,

hundreds of whom had helped us hand-clean

stotine njih nam je pomoglo da ručno očistimo

over 135,000 photographs,

preko 135.000 fotografija.

the large majority — (Applause) —

Većina - (Aplauz) -

a large majority of which did actually find their home again,

većina se ponovo uspešno vratila domovima,

importantly.

što je najvažnije.

Over five hundred volunteers around the globe

Preko 500 dobrovoljaca iz celog sveta

helped us get 90 families hundreds of photographs back,

je pomoglo da 90 porodica dobije nazad stotine fotografija,

fully restored and retouched.

potpuno prepravljene i retuširane.

During this time, we hadn't really spent more than

Tokom ovog vremena na opremu i materijal

about a thousand dollars in equipment and materials,

nismo potrošili više od hiljadu dolara,

most of which was printer inks.

od čega je većina bila mastilo za štampač.

We take photos constantly.

Stalno uzimamo fotografije.

A photo is a reminder of someone or something,

Fotografija je podsetnik na nekog ili nešto,

a place, a relationship, a loved one.

mesto, vezu, voljenu osobu.

They're our memory-keepers and our histories,

One su čuvari naših sećanja i naše prošlosti,

the last thing we would grab

poslednje što bismo uzeli

and the first thing you'd go back to look for.

i prvo za šta bismo se vratili da tražimo.

That's all this project was about,

O tome se radilo u ovom projektu,

about restoring those little bits of humanity,

o obnavljanju malih delova čovečanstva,

giving someone that connection back.

o vraćanju te veze nekome.

When a photo like this can be returned to someone like this,

Kada se ovakva fotografija nekome vrati u ovom stanju,

it makes a huge difference

to čini veliku razliku

in the lives of the person receiving it.

u životu osobe koja je dobije.

The project's also made a big difference in the lives of the retouchers.

Projekat je takođe napravio velike promene u životima retušera.

For some of them, it's given them a connection

Nekima od njih je dao vezu

to something bigger, giving something back,

sa nečim većim, sa mogućnošću da se oduže,

using their talents on something

koristeći svoj talenat na nečemu drugom

other than skinny models and perfect skin.

osim mršavih modela i savršene kože.

I would like to conclude by reading an email

Želela bih da završim tako što ću pročitati e-mail

I got from one of them, Cindy,

koji sam dobila od jedne od njih, Sindi,

the day I finally got back from Japan after six months.

onog dana kada sam se napokon nakon šest meseci vratila iz Japana.

"As I worked, I couldn't help but think about the individuals

"Dok sam radila, nisam mogla da ne mislim na pojedince

and the stories represented in the images.

i priče predstavljene na slikama.

One in particular, a photo of women of all ages,

Posebno na jednu, fotografiju žena svih godišta,

from grandmother to little girl, gathered around a baby,

od bake do devojčice, skupljene oko jedne bebe,

struck a chord, because a similar photo from my family,

koja je pogodila žicu, jer slična fotografija moje porodice,

my grandmother and mother, myself,

moja baka i majka, ja

and newborn daughter, hangs on our wall.

i novorođena kćerka, visi na našem zidu.

Across the globe, throughout the ages,

Širom sveta, kroz vekove,

our basic needs are just the same, aren't they?"

naše opšte potrebe su slične, zar ne?"

Thank you. (Applause)

Hvala. (Aplauz)

(Applause)

(Aplauz)