July 2021, Belgium experienced the most destructive floods in its history. The damage caused by the deluge was enormous: over 220.000 houses were destroyed (on a population of 11 million), countless cars, furniture… but also tens of thousands of photos. Although these ruined photos do not represent a lot of financial value, their emotional value and the memories linked to these photos, are priceless. Briefing: how could Canon deliver a relevant and valuable contribution in the emotional recovery of the flood-affected communities, in sync with its purpose – the commitment to support worthy causes towards local communities as a vital part to bring the world closer to Kyosei.

Tens of thousands of flood damaged photos, a tragedy at the heart of Canon’s core business: photographs. So, in sync with its purpose, Canon decided to act by introducing a heartwarming initiative: ReStory. A project aimed to restore all flood damaged photos. Free of charge. Because photos are memories. And memories are too precious to lose when you already lost everything in the floods. How does the restoring of photos work? The first step is an extensive and thorough drying and cleaning process, by hand, with the aim of minimising the loss of imagery in the process. Afterwards, the dried and cleaned photos are scanned, digitally retouched and printed. Canon provided the funding and the technology to restore as many floods damaged photos as possible.

A call for flood damaged photos was launched within the flood affected area, which is practically the whole southern half of Belgium, around the rivers Vesdre, Ourthe and Meuse.

Problem was that because of the devastating damage, the best – and as good as only - way to reach all victims and spread the call, was via pr-coverage. So a press release was spread, together with a documentary-film (that included the call). Besides, the call was also spread via local press and outdoor ads and flyer distribution in the most seriously affected villages. Victims with flood damaged photos could fill in a digital form at www.restory.photo. A ReStory-team would then pass by, pick up the damaged photos and return them after 4 to 5 weeks. Free of charge.

October 20th, a call for flood damaged photos was launched across multiple channels in the Southern half of Belgium (the flood-affected area). A press release and a touching documentary was spread, revealing the stories of the first victims whose precious photos were restored. The whole national press instantly engaged and the first victims restored photos and stories truly touched the entire nation. The flood damaged photographs are restored to their original state as far as possible (at about 30% are too damaged to be able to restore, meaning that 70% of them CAN be restored!), using a drying and smoothing process, carefully cleaned with cotton swabs and then scanned and digitally processed. All applications to restore pictures can be done at www.restory.photo. The ReStory-team will then travel to collect the photos. And return them after 4 weeks.

Over 50.000 flood damaged photos were entered. In total, so far, over 10.000 pictures have been restored. And returned. Currently, and for the next few months, the restauration will continue to go strong. Until all entered flood damaged photos that can be restored, are restored. It’s fair to say that the Canon ReStory project truly touched the entire Belgian nation. Literally all national media covered the initiative, calling victims out to send in their damaged pictures and spreading a great deal of praise towards such a heartwarming and generous initiative to help Belgium emotionally recover from the toll taken by the devastating floods that took place in mid-July.