Hundreds of photos hang to dry in the laboratory, fragile reminders of birthday celebrations and summer vacations that were nearly washed away by last year’s deadly floods in Spain.
But thanks to a university-led initiative, many memories have been saved from the rubble.
Wearing white lab coats and masks to protect themselves from mold and other contaminants, a group of students in a laboratory at the Polytechnic University of Valencia carefully clean and restore photos.
Next to a pile of dirt-stained photo albums at the entrance is a sign that warns: “Do Not Touch. Contaminated Materials.”
A pile of empty albums nearby still bears traces of the mud that swept through parts of the Mediterranean region of Valencia during heavy rains on October 29, 2024, killing more than 200 people and destroying thousands of homes.
In the ensuing chaos, a group of volunteers rushed to help residents clear and salvage the 800,000 tons of debris left by Spain’s worst natural disaster in a generation.
“We started getting calls from students who were helping in the affected areas and noticed entire photo albums being thrown away,” said Esther Nebot, a professor at the university and co-director of the Let’s Save the Photos project.
“These students started collecting photos in their backpacks,” she added, pointing to the refrigerator where the photos were stored before being painstakingly restored.
– ‘Incredibly satisfying’ –
Since the project began, the lab has transferred approximately 340,000 images.
Volunteers, students, donors and professors have restored about 75% of them.
“The disaster caused a huge loss on a documentary and historical level, but especially on a social level,” Nebot said.
“Many of the objects have no financial value or even historical significance, but they carry a huge emotional weight.”
Using a small brush and a bucket of increasingly murky water, doctoral student Ruth Acuna carefully cleans a black-and-white photo of a woman’s faintly visible portrait.
The 25-year-old, who has been involved with the project from the beginning, said she understands the responsibility of dealing with the memory of so many families who have lost their lives.
“Sometimes you see a photo and think, ‘This photo can’t be saved,’ and then all of a sudden it becomes perfect,” she said. “It’s incredibly satisfying.”
-“Cried a lot”-
At a nearby table, other students carefully unpack warped photo albums or disinfect and clean faded photos before hanging them up to dry.
The most delicate prints, mostly black and white, were flattened between cardboard to prevent curling.
Some images are so damaged that faces are almost unrecognizable. Others, however, have begun telling slices of life again.
“It’s so rewarding to clean up a photo, especially when it’s badly damaged and you can see a face emerge,” student Andrea Baldwin said as she dabbed the photo with cotton.
“It gives you a sense of satisfaction knowing your family can see those memories again.”
In an adjacent room, two students digitize and catalog the images, preparing them for return to their owners in a format similar to the original photo albums.
Nebot, the project’s co-director, said it’s often emotional when restored photos are returned to families, some of whom remain homeless.
“We cried a lot,” she said.
“We set aside time to show them what we do with their photos as a way of thanking them for their trust.”
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