This is my dad around 1949:

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740583775238_r." width="100%" />
 

He just passed away today.

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740613220650_r." width="100%" />
As a way to honor my dad's memory, we are looking for funds to digitize thousands of slides, negatives, films and prints that my dad took during decades of professional photo work, and then release the high-quality images for free under a cc-by-sa 4.0 license to Wikimedia Commons so his work can be used by anyone, anywhere forever.

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740633151667_r." width="100%" />
You can probably tell that I just took these photos of photos on my phone. He took so many shots over the course of decades that it'll take months to scan and label everything, and to do it well takes time and costs money. That's why I'm here: 100% of funds collected will go to digitizing fees. 

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740651818143_r." width="100%" />
We have some prints (this is a tiny portion of what you can see here) but lots more slides and negatives on 35mm and 120mm that have never been printed. 

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740669373861_r." width="100%" />
 There are images from all over Chicago.

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740689479304_r." width="100%" />
 

 

Some from Turkey, England, Old Town Chicago in the 1960's and 70's:

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740700866412_r." width="100%" />
 

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740720754707_r." width="100%" />
 

lots of abstract stuff too:

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740783564518_r." width="100%" />
But really I have no idea what is all there.

 
<img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59457273_1629740799649638_r." width="100%" />
Everything above is just a smattering I found inside a few shoeboxes. If you read his bio below, you'll see he's had a full life, and any event below might also have been captured on film at some point. We just won't know until this work is done.

 

Please help give my dad's work a real legacy.

 

Here's his bio:

 

Victor Albert Grigas (died June 10, 2017) was born Vytautas Grigas on October 30, 1919, in Bridgeport, Chicago to immigrant parents from Lithuania. Raised in a beer flat during alcohol prohibition, his first memory was syphoning beer from barrels under floorboards and being scared of the rats. From an early age, he learned to love reading. During World War Two, after he read ‘Mein Kampf’ and saw Hitlers plans for world domination, he decided to join the army. He served two and a half years in the U.S. Army Combat Engineers despite having four deferments. After the war, he pursued a successful career as a photographer and used the funds to build a house in Willow Springs, Illinois. During the 1960s and 1970s he rehabbed three buildings in Old Town and Lincoln Park (in Chicago) by appropriating remnants of other buildings found in dumpsters and alleys. That work was profiled by the Chicago Tribune on January 22, 1967. Those who have commuted via the Sedgwick El station may have walked past his wall around his building made from railroad ties, brick, tile, doors and iron fencing. Always creative, he loved talking to people, fishing, hunting, classical music, plants and the outdoors, tennis, cycling, Miller High Life, The Chicago Bears, reading, coffee, dogs, philosophizing, cognac, Edy’s ice cream and was always curious about everything. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, two sons and two grandchildren. We love you. Etc., Etc., Etc.

Anonymous

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Christian Reyes

Alex H

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Barbara & Jim Makinen 

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K Schnabl

Joanne  Hurtekant

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Kay Jurica

Mary Devine

Lisa Seitz Gruwell

Remember My Dad Through His Photos

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

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Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

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fund country is US and user language is English

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Enhanced Story Experience Users

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Platform is Android

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Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

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UKCharities

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US Donation Upsell audience 

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Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

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braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

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Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

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Scheduler payment tester gorup

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Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

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UC Tipping v20250115 International

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Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

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Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

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amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

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Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

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Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

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challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

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PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Remember My Dad Through His Photos

Still $5,880 to go. Help us build momentum.