Nicole Sander is an AAE at SaatchiNY. She recently came to the H/H team with an interesting story about her former boss, photographer Danny Goldfield. Below is some info on Danny, his project NYChildren, and how you can help.
Before I worked at Saatchi, I had the privilege to intern for a great photographer named Danny Goldfield. In 2003, Danny was driving across the United States when he stopped in Mesa, Arizona for gas and struck up a conversation with a man named Rana. Both of Rana’s brothers had been murdered. One was lost to a hate crime in front of their family-owned gas station in 2001; the other was killed by a thief while driving his cab in San Francisco.
NYCHILDREN
As a result, Rana was determined to get out and meet his neighbors. As Danny describes it, “By reaching out to those who might not otherwise know him, [Rana] hoped to reduce the danger to himself, his family, and his community”. Later that night, Danny was inspired by this “simple prescription to make the world safer”. He decided to photograph a child from every country on earth currently living in New York City. His goal was to bring neighbors together, and it eventually grew into NYChildren. To date he’s photographed 171 children from 171 different countries.
HELP FUND THE PROJECT
Last year, Danny was given the opportunity to have the opening exhibit at Park51, also known to anyone with access to cable news networks as the “ground zero mosque.” Danny’s project is all about getting to know your neighbors so it’s significant that these photographs are finding a home in a place that has generated so much controversy over religious intolerance. He’s currently trying to raise the money needed to put together the exhibit in the new 4,000 sq ft gallery, with the aim of opening on the International Day of Peace (September 21st). He’s trying to reach 20k by August 9th– his ultimate goal is 70K but someone has pledged to contribute the remaining 50K if he gets to 20. It’s an amazing project that I wanted to give people at Hudson/Houston the chance to get involved with. If you’re interested, you can donate through his KickStarter page.