Once again, it’s been awhile but believe me, behind the scenes I’ve been very busy..!!

I haven’t actually shot many pictures which is a bit frustrating but as many of you know, a lot of time is spent sorting out computer systems, archives, marketing, research and everything else that goes into creating a new business and organising foreign assignments so thankfully getting out there and doing what you are supposed to and love doing is just around the corner.

Good progress is being made and I’ll hopefully be posting about some very exciting new projects coming up in the near future so watch this space…!!

As for now, I thought I’d let you know that an image from a shoot I did last year for Rotary Jersey has been awarded Nominee status in the 5th Annual black and White Spider Awards. I’m certainly more of a color shooter and this was my first black and white project I’ve shot in quite some time so it was a pleasant surprise for it to be recognised. The picture was part of a series I did at Jaipur Foot in India. You can see the whole series and text here but basically Jaipur Foot is an incredibly inspiring Ngo set up by the highly energetic and dedicated D.R Mehta. Every day, hundred of people from all over India travel to Jaipur to receive artificial limbs and polio survivors are given tricycles or calipers. All of these services are given for free and it’s literally a lifeline for thousands of Indians who from here can start making a life for themselves with their new found mobility. I only had two days there after shooting the polio eradication story but found the atmosphere positively infectious. In a matter of hours you saw peoples lives transformed.

The image below was shot in the fitting centre where people wait for the limbs to be made. The guy on the left lost his leg in a train accident (most amputations are caused by train incidents) and on the right is an army officer with his new artificial limb next to him. What I liked is the fact all limbs and fittings are completed in an open room so patients can see exactly what is happening. You can see on their faces they are apprehensive but by having everything open the whole process is hopefully demystified.

A Jaipur artificial limb stands between two amputees waiting for a limb fitting.

One of the pictures from the recent assignment to India has been chosen as Photo of the Day by the editors of a New York based photography magazine PDN. Photo District News (PDN) is an award-winning monthly magazine for the professional photographer and has been covering the professional photographic industry for over two decades so it’s a great platform for more publicity on the polio eradication program.

To view the online magazine please click here PDN

A vaccinator gives polio drops to a child on a train in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India on February 1, 2009. During the NID throughout India, over 172 million children under five were given their life-saving drops of polio vaccine. The World is now 99.8% polio free following a 20-year eradication campaign let by Rotary International.

My world in the last week has pretty much been 24 inch with an Apple sign at the bottom..!! Thinking of how the whole story will fit together, what images match the hours of audio and speaking to yourself trying to narrate the story from 10am till 4am every day/night turns your world into a quite surreal place.! Once it’s finished though it all seems worthwhile so please find below the latest multimedia presentation about polio eradication in India.

So far the response from the story has been great with offers from the Rotary International HQ in America to pay for a traveling exhibition to raise funds and awareness which is the whole reason for doing these stories. If you feel your organisation can help in any way with the polio campaign please get in touch with me at richwainwright@me.com .

Please click on the picture below to redirect you..

Rich…

After another long night I’ve managed to put together the second story from India. It is linked to the polio story in many ways as a large number of patients receiving treatment at Jaipur Foot are polio survivors. The founder Mr D.R Mehta says the number of polio survivors seeking treatment has declined in the past few years but they are still fitting about 30,000 people a year with calipers and tricycles.

The link to the photo story is Jaipur Foot

The Rotary Clubs of Jersey had a launch night of their polio eradication campaign last week at Government House in Jersey. This is the first step for the Rotary Clubs in Jersey to start raising money and awareness for the international effort to eradicate polio. The pictures we took on our recent visit to India are hopefully going to be used around the world to promote this endevour. Bill Gates recently donated over $255 million dollars to the campaign with the challenge for Rotary to raise $200 million by 2012 so the outlook is positive.

I’ve uploaded some pictures onto my website some please feel free to have a look there. I’m also working on a multimedia presentation so when that is finished I’ll let you know..

The link to the polio picture story is Polio Eradication

Rich….

The centrespread featured in the Jersey Evening Post to relaunch the Rotary international polio eradication campaign End Polio Now.