By Tania Martin
CLEMATIS photographer Karen Alsop is calling on all snappers to help recapture lost memories.
She has organised a project where photographers offer their services free of charge to those who have lost all their photos in the bushfires that ravaged Victoria last week.
Ms Alsop said the idea was to offer the survivors of Black Saturday the chance to have their family photographs retaken in a bid to rebuild their shattered lives.
“I can’t imagine the grief of these people who have lost family and homes in the fires,” she said.
“We already have eight photographers but want at least 50 or 60 to jump on board.”
Ms Alsop experienced first-hand the threat of fire on Saturday 7 February.
She prepared to flee as the hills were engulfed with smoke from blazes in the Bunyip State Forest and Upper Ferntree Gully.
“Thank God our homes and the entire hills were spared from these fires, but it’s horrendous to contemplate the amount of loss others are facing,” she said.
Ms Alsop also spent last week on stand-by, ready to evacuate at any moment.
“I have backed up all my photos and files … I can’t lose my photographs,” she said. Wanting to do something to help, Ms Alsop put her photography skills to the test.
“I’m not a firefighter or a counsellor, but we are photographers and we can use this gift to bless those that have lost their precious memories in the fires,” she said.
Ms Alsop said the idea was born from a similar project that was set up in San Diego in 2007 when the region was devastated by fire.
Although many are shattered by the loss of their homes, Ms Alsop believes the ‘recapture’ project was one way families could start again with new memories.
She is calling on photographers from across Victoria to join in.
A website was also launched on Friday and those interested in joining recapture or finding out more should log on to www.projectrecapture.com.au or call Ms Alsop on 0416 233 451.
A coffee table book is also being put together, telling the stories of the families who lost so much in the infernos.
Ms Alsop said the books would then be sold to raise cash for the bushfire appeal.
Karen Alsop is calling for photographers to join an initiative to help bushfire victims
recapture and make new memories. 27086 Picture: Luke Plummer
