Several San Jose State students and local community members have helped raise more than $35,400 in support of a downtown photo shop suffering severe water damage from a water pipe burst on Sept. 17.
SJSU alumnus Henry Chang has run Foto Express, which is located at 304 E. Santa Clara St. about one block north of the university, since 1987.
“The water pipe from the end of the Seventh Street [and] San Fernando [Street] broke so all the streets got flooded so it's not just me,” Chang said, adding the burst was the second time water has damaged his store this year.
Julia Nichols, a Downtown San Jose resident and frequent Foto Express customer, initiated a GoFundMe page intended to crowdsource donations for the store and help provide store upgrades, better ventilation and water damage protection.
GoFundMe is a platform that allows people to crowdfund for events and other challenging circumstances, according to its website.
Nichols said Chang felt bad about receiving so many donations and upon his request, she disabled new donations for the GoFundMe on Sept. 27.
Chang asked for the donations to stop because he’s waiting for some “crucial steps” in the reparation process, according to the GoFundme page.
“[Chang was] like ‘please, no more donations’ but I'm sure it could have kept going if I kept it up,” Nichols said.
Although Chang asked for the GoFundme page to stop, he said he was grateful for the assistance.
“I cannot describe my gratitude and I'm very humbled for people's love and support,” Chang said.
SJSU graphic design senior Debbie Lam said she appreciates Foto Express’s close proximity to campus as she often picks up photos and supplies in between her classes.
“I'm so proud and happy to be in our photo community because pretty much right after we all heard about it, there's immediately a GoFundMe set up and it went to like a good 30,000 [dollars] in a couple days," said Lam, who runs SJSU Photo Guild, a student-run photography club organization.
Chang said he is just taking it “day by day” as repairs are being done to the store but is overwhelmed by the support of San Jose’s photography community.
To get repaired, one of the walls has to be broken down, according to the Sept. 24 ABC7 News article.
Chang is concerned about what effect the wall cutting will have on his expensive equipment especially with debris, according to the same ABC7 News article.
“My machine is kind of older and hard to replace so I'm kind of worried it’s damaged and . . . I try my best but [the store] may not [come] back,” Chang said.
Local photographer Aljed Solis said photo shops including Foto Express are sparse in San Jose.
“[San Jose] is not really very well known for photography and having a lot of access to print shops that develop the film so it's great to have this around,” Solis said. “And then plus the owner is always so nice and he always gets your pictures right on time.”
Solis said shops including Foto Express keep the art of film photography alive.
Film photography involves photos taken using physical plastic strips of film that have to be chemically developed, according to the Masterclass website.
Masterclass provides people with accessible, online classes, according to its website.
About 57% of photographers have been either returning to film or trying it for the first time, according to a 2018 survey by IFord Photo, a manufacturer that provides film and other photography products.
In the survey, more than 6,800 individuals participated from more than 100 countries, according to the survey.
Julia Nichols also echoed the love for photography that she said is shared by many Foto Express customers.
“There's just something about film photography that's very warm and homey and just beautiful in its own way and a lot of people have begun to notice that again,” Nichols said.
Henry Chang said he joined the business because he loves film photography and wanted to help others further their passions for it.
“Because of technology change, a lot of [photo shops] closed down. We [are] still doing film and processing . . . [Film brings] back memories, those joys [you] cannot describe,” Chang said.
Nichols said Chang is always willing to give others his wisdom and help every person who walks into his store.
“Just the type of person that [Henry] is really has [affected] people in a very positive way and he just knows what he's doing,” Nichols said. “He's good at what he does. People look up to him and revere him for being in something that's considered a dying art.”
Chang said he loves seeing people discover old photographs of people who’ve passed away.
He said his favorite part of film photography is the creativity of capturing those special moments, adding people say a picture's worth 1,000 words.
