We live in a society that fears aging, and popular custom is to do whatever possible to avoid this inevitable process. And yet society has long associated old age with collected wisdom and knowledge. This project aims to transcend the aging paradox, and hopefully allow individuals to see our elders and our own aging process in a different light by visually celebrating some of the oldest human beings of our planet for exactly what they are and what they’ve accomplished.
In life, I believe that every day lived is an achievement that one should be proud of. A year is an even more significant achievement. The older we are, the more pride we should have of our overall existence.
Nonetheless, we live in a contradictory society that fears aging but at the same time treats centenarians as celebrities.
With this project, I hope to raise awareness about the importance of sharing and learning from elders. But mostly, I hope to help dissipate the stigma that exists around growing older. I hope to meet centenarians who will help others understand that living to 100 is not something that happens on the day of a particular birthday celebration, but it's something that they have cultivated over a lifetime that spans a century.
Ultimately, I want the audience to feel excited about aging and to understand that longevity implies getting older, which should be embraced throughout a healthy life.
A list dated December 2011 of 100-year-old and older Costa Ricans was provided by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Costa Rica. This Tribunal has the most updated and reliable database of all Costa Rican citizen-related information.
According to the TSE, 425 Costa Ricans were 100 years-old or older. The majority of those Centenarians were located in the central valley of the country, where the majority of the population lives. According to that list, in San Jose there are 150 Centenarians. Alajuela has 84. Guanacaste, 53. Heredia, 46. Puntarenas, 40. Cartago, 34. Limon, 19.
The Costa Rican Centenarians represent the 0.01% of the population. In the USA, centenarians make up around 0.016% of the population.
A comparison with the electoral register of 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 shows a decrease in the amount of Costa Ricans who are living to be 100 years-old or more. According to the registers, in 1994 there where 1188 centenarians in Costa Rica; in 1998 there were 658; in 2002, 587; and in 2006 there were 471 centenarians. The decrease is also seen in the December 2011 list.
These numbers might seem alarming but it can also show that getting to 100 years-old is not something that simply happens, but it is affected by the way of living as well as many other conditions.
What I Need & What You Get
My funding goal for this project is $26,000. I know it is a lot of money, but believe it or not, this money is what I need to cover basic expenses to find and photograph the 88 Centenarians that I am missing. Those basic expenses are:
- Transportation – I am budgeting 88 days of car rental, the biggest expense. Although Costa Rica is a small country and public transportation is often available, I am aiming to finish all the footage in a three month period and I need to be able to move as efficiently as possible around even the remotest locations. Out of the total days, 49 will be in the Central Valley of the country, where the majority of the population is concentrated, but even there, going to certain places could imply a couple of hours driving there and back. The other 39 days will be spent outside the Central Valley, and that could mean a couple of full days of traveling to reach my subjects.
- And with a rental car comes paying for gas... to budget my gas expenses, I am using the travel allowance that the Costa Rican government uses, which is $0.4 per Km. Hopefully they have done their homework calculating this amount!
- Lodging and Food – Every single day outside the Central Valley will imply staying at a hotel. I have budgeted a small amount, considering that Costa Rica is a very touristy country, I plan on staying at the most budget places I can find. I also budgeted three meals for those days. For the days I will be in the Central Valley I have budgeted one meal, and can stay with family during this time.
- I want to give to each family of the 101 Centenarians a book, so I have budgeted the cost of the 101 books. Also, I will keep a few copies of the book to approach different publishers hoping to make a second edition of the book. That cost has also been budgeted.
All of the perks that I am offering with your donations are related to the project, and I am trying to make them very exclusive!
The postcards, prints and books that you will get will only be printed in this form for this campaign. If the book gets reprinted, I will make sure that it looks different from the first version, making that first edition of the book unique.
Also, both postcards and prints are from photographs already taken, so everybody will get part of the rewards offered really soon after the campaign is over. That way you can start enjoying the Centenarian experience almost immediately.
![Pianguita is 103 years old and he loves to hear radio. This is one of the images I will send as a postcard. Check the images section of the campaing to se the others!]( "Pianguita")
Pianguita is 102 years old and he loves to hear radio. This is one of the images I will send as an 8x10 print. Check the gallery of the campaign to see the others!
The book and documentary will be sent in about a year, when I am done with the production part of the project and the post-production work. I am capable of designing a book and editing video, so I will be doing all that work on my own, and that is why I have not budgeted the cost of hiring professionals in those areas. Any extra funding raised will be used to help support myself while I'm concentrating on the post-production work; the less I have to worry about finding work to pay the bills the sooner I will finish the project.
The postcards and 8x10 prints are three photographs of the hands of five different Centenarians. The signed and numbered 8x12 prints are photographs that I took of my great-grandmother, and one of them is my favorite photographs of all time.
IMPORTANT: I will only be shipping inside the USA AND COSTA RICA, if you are somewhere else in the world and you want to donate, please go ahead, but contact me right after, so we can discuss the extra cost of the shipping... I am sure it won’t be that much more! THANK YOU!
The Impact
It seems that people perceive aging as something that happens after you turn 60, when in reality aging is a constant change that starts the day you are born.
Every day we are bombarded with comments and images that increase our fear of aging. Advertisers try to convince us that their technologies will make the wrinkles go away, keep the hair from falling out or defy gravity's effect on our skin and muscles. For some reason people believe that the passing of time reflected in our bodies is something bad. But what will happen when the majority of the population are “old?”
“Instead of the aging myth 'the older you get the sicker you get,' it is much more the case of 'the older you get, the healthier you've been',” reads the website of the New England Centenarian Study.
Experts on aging have determined that living long and healthy lives is influenced by 70% by people's lifestyle and environment, and the other 30% depends on their genes.
Other Ways You Can Help
Thank you so much for spending time reading about my project and learning about the beauty of aging. There is so much more that needs to be said, but I hope the book will become a reality and that the portraits will allow these amazing Costa Rican Centenarians to say it themselves.
If you have already donated to the campaign... THANK YOU SO MUCH!
If you can't donate but want to help... SPREAD THE WORD!!! Maybe one of your friends in Facebook, one of your tweeter followers, or a contact on your email list might be able to donate... USE THE INDIEGOGO SHARE TOOLS and post it in your Facebook Page or tweet it out! The more people the campaign reaches the sooner it will be successful!
THANK YOU for spreading the word about this campaign!
THANK YOU TO THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF JOURNALISM FOR THEIR SUPPORT THROUGH THE DIGITAL DIVERSITY FUND
![Center for the Integration and Improvement of Journalism (CIIJ.ORG)]()
Music on the Video:
