Consumables
LexJet Supplies Lightweight Banners that Will Help Educate Millions of Students
Tuesday 09. June 2009 - PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID DEJONGE BRINGS HIS 14-YEAR VOYAGE OF RE-DISCOVERING WORLD WAR I AND HONORING ITS VETERANS TO MILLIONS OF STUDENTS ACROSS THE U.S.
The Lost Generation is a phrase often used to describe the World War I era in America. The Great War itself has largely been lost to our collective memory, a mere shadow of our more recent Technicolor wars. But one professional photographer has set out to change all that, and change it through his art.
About 14 years ago, David DeJonge (pronounced DeYoung), owner of DeJonge Studio Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., began photographically documenting the remaining American veterans of World War I as part of the Faces of Five Wars, covering World War I through Desert Storm.
That initial project has led to a vast amount of press coverage, an exhibit in the Pentagon, the drive toward a national WWI monument, and a nationwide traveling educational program to more than a thousand schools that began last month. DeJongeís project has been featured on every major television network, including CNN, NBC, and CBS.
One of the main challenges DeJonge faced as he began to organize this extensive and important road trip was simply the weight of the exhibit. The first exhibit, which ultimately led to the traveling exhibit concept, was presented at a Creekwood Middle School in Humble, Texas, north of Houston.
DeJongeís images were printed and framed, and weighed around 400 pounds and cost nearly $1,000 to ship round-trip, which is manageable for a one-time exhibit, but not as manageable for one that will need to be packed up and shipped to the next location quickly and easily. Still, the exhibit brought in about 3,000 viewers and raised more than $14,000 for the restoration and expansion of the World War I Memorial on the National Mall.
DeJonge began looking for a lightweight alternative, and chose LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. The lightweight fabric would eliminate about 330 pounds of weight and are much easier to transport, since they roll up and fit in a smaller space. By reducing the weight and packing size of the images, DeJonge was able to make the images larger for greater impact as well as extremely portable so that it could travel to more schools within a given district, he says.
ìThe exhibit will usually go from school to school in a mini-van. When one school is finished with it, theyíll either take it to the next school, or the next school will pick it up from them. It was important that it be as compact and lightweight as possible,î says DeJonge. ìThe exhibit is shipped in two fishing pole cases for the banners, and a crate for the World War I artifacts. Weíll chain-link it across the U.S. by moving it from school to school.î
DeJonge printed the Water-Resistant Satin Cloth banners on his Epson 9880 Stylus Pro 44-in. wide printer. The finished banners are 42 in. x 6 1/2 ft., and DeJonge printed a total of 14 for the exhibit. The banners feature the photos and life stories of 13 Allied World War I veterans, including 108-year-old Frank W. Buckles, who is the last living American veteran.
ìI have extremely high standards, and Iím very pleased with the material. It provides good flesh tones, and smooth transitions between the shadow and highlight areas,î says DeJonge. ìIn addition to these qualities, LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth maintains accurate clarity for the text on the panels. I have never experienced anything like it with a similar printable material.î
The first shipment to Connecticut went without a hitch and made an immediate impact on the students and the community, being featured prominently in The Bristol Press. The newspaper article highlighted the primary goals of the exhibit: to provide further education about World War I and to raise awareness and support for a national World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The traveling exhibit is scheduled to visit 1,000 school districts. With 20 districts in each state, four to six schools in each district, and about 500 students participating in the project at each school, DeJonge expects a total of 2.5 million viewers, which would represent one of the largest audiences ever for an exhibit of this kind.