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July 20, 2007
My friend Gopal Kharbanda invited me to the Gallerie Icosahedron (27 North Moore St, NYC) which played host to the weekend-long Charity In-Focus Photo Exhibition. The Charity In-Focus program was a clever way to raise awareness for a variety of special causes thru photography. The first leg was a photo contest. The challenge for photographers was to capture images of 'need' or 'compassion' in a compelling way. Tonight was the opening ceremony of the exhibition and a chance to honor the winners of the contest as well as getting introduced to the many groups working to make this world a better place in areas ranging from poverty to children's health to disaster relief and more. Set up as a typical art opening there was cheese, wine, finger food and classical music provided by pianist Judy Woo and violinist Ellie Kang. Even if you were unaware of the charity connection, the sensory treats would have been plenty to keep you occupied. But of course there was a very important message in the air tonight. The photos submitted by pros and amateurs from all over the globe stunningly depicted specific human needs. None needed to exploit the shock value as the reality of the situations were gripping enough. The event also doubled as an auction where many of the photographers donated their proceeds to their charity of choice. At the front door was a donation box which raised money as well. As I stopped to look at each photo on display—not to mention the slide show on the back wall of 'Peoples Choice' winners from the web—it was impossible to not be moved by what I was seeing. The old cliché about a picture being worth a thousand words is true. Sometimes we need the visual to give life to the visceral. I also couldn't help but ponder the task of judging the winners since so many of the photos were amazing. Four 'Best Overall' and 82 'Honorable Mentions' were chosen from the over 300 entries. One of the judges was Linda Levinson from the Tisch School of Arts. She admitted that although the task of judging such a large number of entries from a wide variety of photographers was daunting, it was most enjoyable and satisfying. Other judges were George Hirose (Pratt Institute), Deborah Klesenski (FIT) and Gerald Pryor (NYU Steinhardt). While I strolled around in the very hot industrial, warehouse-style Gallerie Icosahedron, I found out that there was no air conditioning due to the building's historical designation. I've known of other buildings that suffered the same fate. Yes it is wonderful to be placed on the Historical Societies 'A' list, but sadly after achieving that status, making any renovations is near impossible. Then again I can see this being a perfectly comfortable venue on most nights with its high ceilings, vast space and plenty of fans. Tonight was an exception with the added body heat from a larger-than-usual mass of well-wishers and the artistically curious. The founder and visionary of Charity In-Focus is Stephanie Chang. Along with my friend Gopal and an incredibly dedicated group of volunteers, she did an amazing job of putting all of this together in such a short span of time. The initial concept and formation of the group was in May leaving only a couple of months to find charitable organizations and sponsors, get the word out, collect and judge the photo entries as well as plan tonight's exhibition. Overall this event and contest was a success on many levels. Most importantly for me was being educated on such a variety of needs and the organizations dedicated to helping. The winners were unveiled and speeches were made. At times it was hard to hear all the subtleties due to the high murmur of the large crowd. But in the end I was fairly confident that the message of the night was not lost. After the ceremony, everyone continued with our wine sipping and got to finally gaze upon the moving, winning images by S.J. Kelly (Global Action Foundation), Jan Pleiter, Sumita Roy and Teseum. These and the 82 honorable mentions can be found at the Charity In-Focus Photo Gallery. At the end of the night, as I was mingling with Gopal and Stephanie, a strange coincidence popped up. The night before I was at an event in Hoboken where the host's mother had driven from Toronto to be a part of it. Tonight I met Stephanie's parents. In the course of our very pleasant conversation, I discovered that they too had driven from Toronto for this event. I joked about a Canadian invasion. As I left the gallery, my head was reeling. It was truly overwhelming at times trying to register the vast amount of need and injustice in the world. Seeing images from areas such as Cambodia, India or other parts were not nearly as shocking to me as the ones from the United States. The fact that families are still waiting for aid in parts of Louisiana so long after Katrina remains disturbing and unacceptable. The despair that resides in one's own neighborhood often tends to go more unnoticed than that which is half way around the globe. Check my links below for more information on Charity In-Focus. Links:
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