TEDGlobal 2012
Becci Manson: (Re)touching lives through photos
Beki Menson (Becci Manson): Retuširanje i spajanje života kroz fotografije
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Nakon japanskog zemljotresa i cunamija 2011. godine, u ruševinama su bile i izgubljene i oštećene fotografije porodica i najbližih. Fotografski retušer Beki Menson je, zajedno sa lokalnim dobrovoljcima i globalnom grupom saradnika koje je našla preko mreže, pomogla da se očiste i poprave fotografije i da se te uspomene vrate njihovim vlasnicima.
Becci Manson - Photo Retoucher
After the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Becci Manson and her volunteer colleagues cleaned and restored hundreds of damaged photos. Full bio
After the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Becci Manson and her volunteer colleagues cleaned and restored hundreds of damaged photos. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:17
Before March, 2011, I was a photographic retoucher
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Pre marta 2011. bila sam fotografski retušer
00:21
based in New York City.
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u Njujorku.
00:24
We're pale, gray creatures.
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Mi smo bleda, siva stvorenja.
00:26
We hide in dark, windowless rooms,
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Krijemo se u tamnim sobama
bez prozora
bez prozora
00:28
and generally avoid sunlight.
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i uglavnom izbegavamo sunce.
00:30
We make skinny models skinnier, perfect skin more perfect,
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Od mršavih manekenki pravimo još mršavije,
od savršene kože još savršeniju,
od savršene kože još savršeniju,
00:34
and the impossible possible,
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od nemogućeg moguće.
00:36
and we get criticized in the press all the time,
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Mediji nas kritikuju sve vreme,
00:40
but some of us are actually talented artists
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ali neki od nas su nadareni umetnici
00:44
with years of experience
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sa godinama iskustva
00:46
and a real appreciation for images and photography.
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sa stvarnim uvažavanjem
slika i fotografija.
slika i fotografija.
00:50
On March 11, 2011, I watched from home, as the rest
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11. marta 2011. kao i ceo svet,
gledala sam od kuće,
gledala sam od kuće,
00:55
of the world did, as the tragic events unfolded in Japan.
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tragični razvoj događaja u Japanu.
00:59
Soon after, an organization I volunteer with,
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Ubrzo nakon toga,
organizacija gde sam dobrovoljac,
organizacija gde sam dobrovoljac,
01:01
All Hands Volunteers, were on the ground, within days,
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All Hands Volunteers je bila tamo
u roku od nekoliko dana,
u roku od nekoliko dana,
01:05
working as part of the response efforts.
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radeći kao deo spasilačkog odgovora.
01:08
I, along with hundreds of other volunteers,
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Ja i još stotinjak dobrovoljaca,
01:10
knew we couldn't just sit at home,
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znali smo da ne možemo samo
da sedimo kod kuće,
da sedimo kod kuće,
01:12
so I decided to join them for three weeks.
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tako da sam odlučila da im se pridružim
naredne tri nedelje.
naredne tri nedelje.
01:15
On May the 13th, I made my way to the town of Ōfunato.
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13. maja sam stigla u grad Ofunato.
01:19
It's a small fishing town in Iwate Prefecture,
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To je mali ribarski grad
u prefekturi Ivate,
u prefekturi Ivate,
01:23
about 50,000 people,
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sa oko 50.000 stanovnika,
01:25
one of the first that was hit by the wave.
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jedan od prvih koje je talas udario.
01:28
The waters here have been recorded at reaching
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Zabeleženo je da su vode dostizale
01:31
over 24 meters in height,
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visine preko 24 metara
01:33
and traveled over two miles inland.
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i prešle više od 3 km
u unutrašnjost kopna.
u unutrašnjost kopna.
01:35
As you can imagine, the town had been devastated.
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Kao što možete da zamislite,
grad je bio opustošen.
grad je bio opustošen.
01:39
We pulled debris from canals and ditches.
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Izvlačili smo krhotine
iz kanala i jaruga.
iz kanala i jaruga.
01:41
We cleaned schools. We de-mudded and gutted homes
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Očistili smo škole. Očistili smo domove
od mulja i pripremili
od mulja i pripremili
01:45
ready for renovation and rehabilitation.
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za renoviranje i rehabilitaciju.
01:47
We cleared tons and tons of stinking, rotting fish carcasses
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Uklonili smo tone i tone smrdljivih,
trulih ribljih leševa
trulih ribljih leševa
01:52
from the local fish processing plant.
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iz lokalnog pogona za preradu ribe.
01:54
We got dirty, and we loved it.
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Uprljali smo se i svidelo nam se.
01:57
For weeks, all the volunteers and locals alike
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Nedeljama, podjednako svi
dobrovoljci i meštani
dobrovoljci i meštani
02:00
had been finding similar things.
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su nalazili slične stvari.
02:03
They'd been finding photos and photo albums
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Nalazili su slike i albume slika
02:06
and cameras and SD cards.
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i kamere i SD kartice.
02:08
And everyone was doing the same.
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Svi su radili istu stvar.
02:09
They were collecting them up, and handing them in to
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Sakupljali su ih i odnosili ih
02:12
various places around the different towns for safekeeping.
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na razna mesta u okolnim gradovima
da bi se čuvali.
da bi se čuvali.
02:15
Now, it wasn't until this point that I realized
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Sve do ovog trenutka nisam shvatala
02:18
that these photos were such a huge part
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da su ove fotografije
bile tako velik deo
bile tako velik deo
02:21
of the personal loss these people had felt.
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ličnih gubitaka koje su ovi ljudi osetili.
02:24
As they had run from the wave, and for their lives,
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Kako su bežali od talasa
i boreći se za svoje živote,
i boreći se za svoje živote,
02:27
absolutely everything they had,
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apsolutno sve što su imali,
02:29
everything had to be left behind.
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sve su morali ostaviti za sobom.
02:32
At the end of my first week there, I found myself
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Na kraju prve nedelje, pomagala sam
02:34
helping out in an evacuation center in the town.
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u evakuacionom centru u gradu.
02:37
I was helping clean the onsen, the communal onsen,
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Pomagala sam da se očiste
javna topla kupatila (onseni),
javna topla kupatila (onseni),
02:41
the huge giant bathtubs.
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ogromne džinovske kade.
02:43
This happened to also be a place in the town where
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Ovo je takođe bilo mesto u gradu
02:45
the evacuation center was collecting the photos.
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gde je evakuacioni centar
skupljao fotografije.
skupljao fotografije.
02:48
This is where people were handing them in,
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Tu su ih ljudi predavali
02:50
and I was honored that day that they actually trusted me
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i bila sam počastvovana onog dana
kada su mi poverili
kada su mi poverili
02:53
to help them start hand-cleaning them.
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da im pomognem da ih ručno očiste.
02:56
Now, it was emotional and it was inspiring,
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Bilo je emocionalno i nadahnjujuće
02:59
and I've always heard about thinking outside the box,
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i uvek sam slušala
da treba razmišljati van okvira,
da treba razmišljati van okvira,
03:02
but it wasn't until I had actually gotten outside of my box
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ali dok zapravo nisam bila
van svojih okvira
van svojih okvira
03:06
that something happened.
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nije se ništa desilo.
03:08
As I looked through the photos, there were some
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Dok sam pregledavala fotografije,
neke su bile
neke su bile
03:10
were over a hundred years old,
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starije više od sto godina,
03:12
some still in the envelope from the processing lab,
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neke još uvek u kovertama
od razvijanja,
od razvijanja,
03:16
I couldn't help but think as a retoucher
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nisam mogla a da ne pomislim
da kao retušer
da kao retušer
03:18
that I could fix that tear and mend that scratch,
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mogu da popravim cepanja i ogrebotine
03:20
and I knew hundreds of people who could do the same.
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i znala sam stotine ljudi
koji bi mogli isto.
koji bi mogli isto.
03:24
So that evening, I just reached out on Facebook
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Te noći, posegla sam preko Fejsbuka
03:27
and asked a few of them, and by morning
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i pitala njih nekoliko i do jutra
03:29
the response had been so overwhelming and so positive,
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odziv je bio toliko ogroman i pozitivan
03:32
I knew we had to give it a go.
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da sam znala da moramo da probamo.
03:34
So we started retouching photos.
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Počeli smo da retuširamo fotografije.
03:37
This was the very first.
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Ovo je bila prva.
03:40
Not terribly damaged, but where the water had caused
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Nije strašno oštećena,
ali gde je voda uzrokovala
ali gde je voda uzrokovala
03:45
that discoloration on the girl's face
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promenu boje na licu devojčice
03:47
had to be repaired with such accuracy and delicacy.
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moralo je da se popravi sa velikom
preciznošću i delikatnošću.
preciznošću i delikatnošću.
03:50
Otherwise, that little girl isn't going to look
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U suprotnom, ta devojčica neće ličiti
03:53
like that little girl anymore, and surely that's as tragic
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više na tu devojčicu,
to je zasigurno tragično
to je zasigurno tragično
03:55
as having the photo damaged.
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isto kao da je fotografija oštećena.
03:59
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
04:05
Over time, more photos came in, thankfully,
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Tokom vremena, pristizalo je
više fotografija, na sreću,
više fotografija, na sreću,
04:08
and more retouchers were needed,
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i bilo je potrebno još retušera,
04:12
and so I reached out again on Facebook and LinkedIn,
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tako da sam ponovo posegla
preko Fejsbuka i LinkedIna
preko Fejsbuka i LinkedIna
04:15
and within five days, 80 people wanted to help
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i u roku od pet dana
80 ljudi je htelo da pomogne
80 ljudi je htelo da pomogne
04:18
from 12 different countries.
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iz 12 različitih država.
04:20
Within two weeks, I had 150 people
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U roku od dve nedelje,
imala sam 150 ljudi
imala sam 150 ljudi
04:22
wanting to join in.
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voljnih da pomognu.
04:24
Within Japan, by July, we'd branched out
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U Japanu, do jula, proširili smo se
04:27
to the neighboring town of Rikuzentakata,
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do susednog grada Rikuzentakatana
04:29
further north to a town called Yamada.
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severnije do grada zvanoga Jamada.
04:32
Once a week, we would set up our scanning equipment
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Jednom nedeljno, postavili bismo
opremu za skeniranje
opremu za skeniranje
04:35
in the temporary photo libraries that had been set up,
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u privremeno postavljene
biblioteke fotografija
biblioteke fotografija
04:37
where people were reclaiming their photos.
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gde su ljudi dobijali
svoje fotografije nazad.
svoje fotografije nazad.
04:40
The older ladies sometimes hadn't seen a scanner before,
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Ponekad starije žene
nikad dotad nisu videle skenere,
nikad dotad nisu videle skenere,
04:43
but within 10 minutes of them finding their lost photo,
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ali u roku od 10 minuta
kako su našli svoju izgubljenu fotografiju,
kako su našli svoju izgubljenu fotografiju,
04:47
they could give it to us, have it scanned,
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mogli su nam je dati da se skenira,
04:49
uploaded to a cloud server, it would be downloaded
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postavi na "oblak" servere,
odakle bi je skinuo
odakle bi je skinuo
04:51
by a gaijin, a stranger,
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neki gajidžin, stranac,
04:54
somewhere on the other side of the globe,
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negde sa druge strane sveta
04:56
and it'd start being fixed.
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i počeo da je popravlja.
04:58
The time it took, however, to get it back
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Međutim, vreme potrebno
da se fotografija vrati
da se fotografija vrati
05:02
is a completely different story,
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je sasvim drugačija priča
05:04
and it depended obviously on the damage involved.
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i zavisilo je naravno od oštećenja.
05:06
It could take an hour. It could take weeks.
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Moglo je da traje sat.
Moglo je trajati nedeljama.
Moglo je trajati nedeljama.
05:08
It could take months.
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Moglo je trajati mesecima.
05:10
The kimono in this shot pretty much had to be hand-drawn,
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Kimono na ovoj slici je manje-više
trebalo da se ručno nacrta
trebalo da se ručno nacrta
05:14
or pieced together, picking out the remaining parts of color
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ili da se sastavi, birajući ostatke od boja
05:18
and detail that the water hadn't damaged.
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i detalja koje voda nije oštetila.
05:20
It was very time-consuming.
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Zahtevalo je mnogo vremena.
05:23
Now, all these photos had been damaged by water,
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Sve ove fotografije oštetila je voda,
05:26
submerged in salt water, covered in bacteria,
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bile su u slanoj vodi,
punoj bakterija,
punoj bakterija,
05:29
in sewage, sometimes even in oil, all of which over time
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u kanalizaciji, ponekad i u nafti,
sve to vremenom
sve to vremenom
05:32
is going to continue to damage them,
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nanosi štetu,
05:34
so hand-cleaning them was a huge part of the project.
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ručno čišćenje je bilo
veliki deo projekta.
veliki deo projekta.
05:37
We couldn't retouch the photo unless it was cleaned,
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Nismo mogli da retuširamo fotografije
dok se ne očiste,
dok se ne očiste,
05:40
dry and reclaimed.
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osuše i preuzmu.
05:43
Now, we were lucky with our hand-cleaning.
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Imali smo sreće sa ručnim čišćenjem.
05:46
We had an amazing local woman who guided us.
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Imali smo neverovatnu lokalnu ženu
koja nas je vodila.
koja nas je vodila.
05:49
It's very easy to do more damage to those damaged photos.
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Veoma je lako napraviti još štete
na već oštećenim fotografijama.
na već oštećenim fotografijama.
05:53
As my team leader Wynne once said,
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Kao što je moj vođa tima,
Vin, jednom rekao,
Vin, jednom rekao,
05:55
it's like doing a tattoo on someone.
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to je kao da radite tetovažu na nekome.
05:57
You don't get a chance to mess it up.
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Nemate šansu da zabrljate.
06:01
The lady who brought us these photos was lucky,
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Žena koja nam je donela ove fotografije
imala je sreće,
imala je sreće,
06:04
as far as the photos go.
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što se tiče fotografija.
06:06
She had started hand-cleaning them herself and stopped
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Počela je sama da ih ručno čisti
i prestala je
i prestala je
06:08
when she realized she was doing more damage.
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kada je shvatila da ih još oštećuje.
06:11
She also had duplicates.
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Takođe je imala duplikate.
06:13
Areas like her husband and her face, which otherwise
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Područja kao njen suprug i njeno lice,
koje bi inače
koje bi inače
06:16
would have been completely impossible to fix,
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bilo nemoguće popraviti,
06:18
we could just put them together in one good photo,
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mogli smo da sastavimo
u jednu dobru fotografiju
u jednu dobru fotografiju
06:21
and remake the whole photo.
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i da napravimo celu fotografiju.
06:23
When she collected the photos from us,
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Kada je preuzela fotografije od nas,
06:26
she shared a bit of her story with us.
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podelila je delić svoje priče sa nama.
06:28
Her photos were found by her husband's colleagues
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Njene fotografije su našle kolege
njenog supruga
njenog supruga
06:31
at a local fire department in the debris
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u ruševinama lokalne vatrogasne stanice
06:33
a long way from where the home had once stood,
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daleko od mesta
gde je nekada bio njihov dom
gde je nekada bio njihov dom
06:36
and they'd recognized him.
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i prepoznali su ga.
06:39
The day of the tsunami, he'd actually been in charge
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Na dan cunamija, on je bio zadužen
06:41
of making sure the tsunami gates were closed.
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da osigura da su brane
od cunamija zatvorene.
od cunamija zatvorene.
06:43
He had to go towards the water as the sirens sounded.
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Morao je da ide ka vodi
kada su se oglasile sirene.
kada su se oglasile sirene.
06:47
Her two little boys, not so little anymore, but her two boys
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Njena dva, ne više tako mala dečaka,
06:50
were both at school, separate schools.
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su bila u odvojenim školama.
06:52
One of them got caught up in the water.
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Jednog od njih je odnela voda.
06:55
It took her a week to find them all again
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Trebalo joj je nedelju dana da ih nađe
06:57
and find out that they had all survived.
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i otkrije da su svi preživeli.
06:59
The day I gave her the photos also happened to be
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Dan kada sam joj predala fotografije
je takođe bio
je takođe bio
07:02
her youngest son's 14th birthday.
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14. rođendan njenog najmlađeg sina.
07:06
For her, despite all of this, those photos
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Za nju, uprkos svemu, te fotografije
07:10
were the perfect gift back to him,
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su bile savršen poklon njemu,
07:12
something he could look at again, something he remembered from before
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nešto što je mogao ponovo da gleda,
nešto čega se sećao pre
nešto čega se sećao pre
07:15
that wasn't still scarred from that day in March
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nastalih martovskih ožiljaka
07:20
when absolutely everything else in his life had changed
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kada se apsolutno sve
u njegovom životu promenilo
u njegovom životu promenilo
07:23
or been destroyed.
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ili uništilo.
07:27
After six months in Japan,
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Nakon šest meseci u Japanu,
07:29
1,100 volunteers had passed through All Hands,
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1.100 dobrovoljaca je prošlo
kroz All Hands,
kroz All Hands,
07:32
hundreds of whom had helped us hand-clean
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stotine njih nam je pomoglo
da ručno očistimo
da ručno očistimo
07:34
over 135,000 photographs,
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preko 135.000 fotografija.
07:37
the large majority — (Applause) —
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Većina - (Aplauz) -
07:43
a large majority of which did actually find their home again,
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većina se ponovo
uspešno vratila domovima,
uspešno vratila domovima,
07:46
importantly.
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što je najvažnije.
07:49
Over five hundred volunteers around the globe
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Preko 500 dobrovoljaca iz celog sveta
07:52
helped us get 90 families hundreds of photographs back,
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je pomoglo da 90 porodica
dobije nazad stotine fotografija,
dobije nazad stotine fotografija,
07:57
fully restored and retouched.
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potpuno prepravljene i retuširane.
07:59
During this time, we hadn't really spent more than
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Tokom ovog vremena
na opremu i materijal
na opremu i materijal
08:01
about a thousand dollars in equipment and materials,
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nismo potrošili više od hiljadu dolara,
08:04
most of which was printer inks.
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od čega je većina bila mastilo za štampač.
08:08
We take photos constantly.
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Stalno uzimamo fotografije.
08:10
A photo is a reminder of someone or something,
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Fotografija je podsetnik
na nekog ili nešto,
na nekog ili nešto,
08:13
a place, a relationship, a loved one.
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mesto, vezu, voljenu osobu.
08:16
They're our memory-keepers and our histories,
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One su čuvari naših sećanja
i naše prošlosti,
i naše prošlosti,
08:18
the last thing we would grab
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poslednje što bismo uzeli
08:21
and the first thing you'd go back to look for.
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i prvo za šta bismo se vratili
da tražimo.
da tražimo.
08:24
That's all this project was about,
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O tome se radilo u ovom projektu,
08:26
about restoring those little bits of humanity,
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o obnavljanju malih delova čovečanstva,
08:29
giving someone that connection back.
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o vraćanju te veze nekome.
08:31
When a photo like this can be returned to someone like this,
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Kada se ovakva fotografija
nekome vrati u ovom stanju,
nekome vrati u ovom stanju,
08:37
it makes a huge difference
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to čini veliku razliku
08:39
in the lives of the person receiving it.
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u životu osobe koja je dobije.
08:42
The project's also made a big difference in the lives of the retouchers.
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Projekat je takođe napravio velike promene
u životima retušera.
u životima retušera.
08:46
For some of them, it's given them a connection
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Nekima od njih je dao vezu
08:49
to something bigger, giving something back,
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sa nečim većim,
sa mogućnošću da se oduže,
sa mogućnošću da se oduže,
08:51
using their talents on something
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koristeći svoj talenat na nečemu drugom
08:53
other than skinny models and perfect skin.
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osim mršavih modela i savršene kože.
08:57
I would like to conclude by reading an email
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Želela bih da završim
tako što ću pročitati e-mail
tako što ću pročitati e-mail
08:59
I got from one of them, Cindy,
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koji sam dobila od jedne od njih,
Sindi,
Sindi,
09:02
the day I finally got back from Japan after six months.
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onog dana kada sam se napokon nakon
šest meseci vratila iz Japana.
šest meseci vratila iz Japana.
09:06
"As I worked, I couldn't help but think about the individuals
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"Dok sam radila, nisam mogla
da ne mislim na pojedince
da ne mislim na pojedince
09:10
and the stories represented in the images.
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i priče predstavljene na slikama.
09:13
One in particular, a photo of women of all ages,
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Posebno na jednu,
fotografiju žena svih godišta,
fotografiju žena svih godišta,
09:17
from grandmother to little girl, gathered around a baby,
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od bake do devojčice,
skupljene oko jedne bebe,
skupljene oko jedne bebe,
09:21
struck a chord, because a similar photo from my family,
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koja je pogodila žicu, jer slična
fotografija moje porodice,
fotografija moje porodice,
09:24
my grandmother and mother, myself,
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moja baka i majka, ja
09:27
and newborn daughter, hangs on our wall.
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i novorođena kćerka,
visi na našem zidu.
visi na našem zidu.
09:30
Across the globe, throughout the ages,
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Širom sveta, kroz vekove,
09:33
our basic needs are just the same, aren't they?"
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naše opšte potrebe su slične, zar ne?"
09:37
Thank you. (Applause)
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Hvala.
(Aplauz)
(Aplauz)
09:40
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Becci Manson - Photo RetoucherAfter the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Becci Manson and her volunteer colleagues cleaned and restored hundreds of damaged photos.
Why you should listen
Becci Manson flew to Tōhoku, Japan after the 2011 disaster, determined to help with cleanup and rebuilding.
As she writes: "During those 3 weeks of digging ditches and gutting homes I discovered vast amounts of photos that had been found and handed into evacuation centers. The photos were dirty, wet and homeless. As I spent my first day hand-cleaning them, I couldnt help but think how easy it would be for me, my colleagues and my friends to fix some of them. So we did."
She spent the next 6 months organizing a worldwide network of volunteer retouchers, restoring these photos and training local All Hands volunteer teams to hand-clean the photos handed in to local authorities. These teams have restored hundreds and hand-cleaned well over 100,000 photos.
Since the project in Tōhoku, Manson and her team has begun similar cleaning and retouching projects in Prattsville, NY after Hurricane Irene, and in Binghamton, NY after Tropical Storm Lee.
Becci Manson | Speaker | TED.com