Press Release - The Last Family Portrait.

 U.S. Photographer Gives Omo Valley Tribes Their First and Probably Last Family Portraits New York, NY (April 29, 2015) – Every 20 seconds, a family in Sub-­‐Saharan Africa loses a loved one to unsafe drinking water – with nothing to remember them by. That’s why WATERisLIFE and Deutsch NY partnered with award-­‐winning photographer, Neil DaCosta, to create a new campaign called, “The Last Family Portrait.” An emotional project that set out to give remote families their first-­‐ever portraits – knowing it might be their last. Traveling over 8,000 miles into the Omo Valley of Ethiopia, the home of the Hamar and Mursi tribes, families were photographed in front of a marbled blue backdrop, only this time the studio wasn’t in a mall, but rather in a remote and barren landscape – a place where it hasn’t rained in over three months. Many of the families who received family portraits often make up to 10, hour-­‐long trips, daily for water in order to keep their family and livestock alive – only to cultivate unsafe drinking water. “The conditions were harsh. We had to bring the portrait studio to them and choose their poses carefully,” said DaCosta. “There’s a fine line between tasteful and tacky family photos. Due to the emotional nature of this project, we were careful to stick with the former.” The print campaign features individual family portraits, each with a call to action, and are being distributed in-­‐kind. The campaign will run in Bloomberg, The Economist, and Forbes, among others. "Most people go into these rural areas of Ethiopia, snap a picture of the tribes and then leave,” said Kristine Bender, President of WATERisLIFE. “This is the first time anyone has physically printed, framed and given them a family portrait. You could see the gratitude on their faces. Knowing we are making a difference by capturing an important moment in their life, the project’s goal isn’t just to give family portraits, it’s to keep these families alive.” “Family portraits are our most prized possessions because of the memories they give us,” said Menno Kluin, Executive Creative Director, Deutsch NY. “Imagine a loved one died and you didn’t even have a picture to remember them by, truly heart-­‐breaking." *To donate or learn more about WATERisLIFE, visit: http://waterislife.com/about/why-­‐wil. *A limited number of family portraits will be auctioned off later this year, with all proceeds benefitting the tribes of the Oma Valley. Auction details will be announced this summer. ### ABOUT WATERisLIFE: WATERisLIFE (WiL) first teamed up with the creative team of Menno Kluin, Frank Cartagena and Sam Shepherd and the “Last Family Portrait” marks their sixth project together. Their previous “Hashtag Killer” campaign was the fifth most awarded project in 2013. Their “Four Year Old Bucket List” and ‘Drinkable Book’ follow ups both took home gold at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in subsequent years. Since their partnership began in 2012, donations have increased by over 700%. WATERisLIFE (WiL) was founded in March 2009 and over the past six years, it has dramatically expanded its program development and funding, volunteer staff and in-­‐country partnerships. They have distributed over 75,000 WiL personal water filters in 36 countries and have distributed filters during emergency/disaster relief initiatives globally. WiL has repaired pumps, drilled wells, provided home filters, protected current water sources, installed water systems, as well as provided school and village WASH education programs and have transformed communities thru open defecation free status, building latrines and hand washing stations and partnering on community WASH business start ups. Our volunteer staff has researched and developed three targeted WiL program areas – 334 villages in Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Haiti – for clean water, sanitation, and hygiene transformation. WATERisLIFE has impacted over 125,000 lives and transforms communities from within.