David Tovey became homeless on the streets of London after a stroke and found salvation in an unlikely place – a disposable camera.
Tovey was invited to participate in an art project giving Londoners cameras to record life on the streets for a calendar now being sold on Kickstarter. He has had photos selected for the Cafe Art calendar project two years in a row.
“It’s amazing what a disposable camera can do to someone’s self-esteem,” Tovey said. “I turned up the first year and couldn’t talk to anyone, I couldn’t look at anyone, I kept my eyes on my feet the whole time. I went out and took photos, wasn’t expecting any from it and from that, it changed my life.”
The Kickstarter campaign has a couple of weeks remaining, but already Cafe Art has raised more than $14,000, double of what the organization was trying for raise. With a donation of 9 pounds (just under $14), backers will receive the 2016 calendar.
Cafe Art receives no government money so the money raised on Kickstarter will go toward’s the printing of the calendar plus costs and materials to continue the project next year.
In July, Cafe Art passed out 100 Fujifilm single-use cameras to those affected by homelessness. They received some photography training from cosponsor, the Royal Photographic Society, and given the theme, “My London.”
Eighty of the cameras came back with more than 2,500 prints made. A judging panel selected 20 photos for a special exhibition at the Spitalfields Arts Market earlier this month and the pubic selected 13 photos (one for the cover, 12 for the inside) for the 2016 calendar.
“People have made huge changes just because of this project alone,” said Cafe Art co-founder Paul Ryan.
Cafe Art will print 5,000 2016 calendars. This is the third year of the project. Calendars for the first two years sold out.