Community Television Network producer and independent documentarian Tim Nagae used to be avid about his amateur photography. Since turning his attention to videography, shooting documentary videos and public service announcements, and producing a CTN show called “Senior Moments,” Nagae does not take as many photos these days.

However, he had a bunch of older ones that he wanted to share. At first, he made them into cards for his friends and family. Some capture human moments that are “unusual and frequently humorous,” he says. Others picture architecture, buildings around Ann Arbor and other cities, or random subjects. You can view them on Facebook.

He never planned to sell them. But when disaster hit his home country of Japan he got the idea to use them to raise money for relief efforts.

This summer and into this fall, Nagae sets up shop at a community booth at The Sunday Artisan Market in Kerrytown. He staffs it in order to inform people about disaster relief in Japan, raise money for the Salvation Army’s relief effort, and tell folks the fun and often humorous stories behind each of his photographs. Aside from a few weekends starting at the beginning of August, when he is traveling back to Japan, you can find him there.

He started selling the postcards to his friends and co-workers in April of last year for 60 cents a piece. He also got the idea to sell them at the handful of folk music performances he does each year under his given name, Katsumi.

In addition to his photographs, Nagae’s father, Yukiaki, wrote some of the photographs’ titles in Japanese calligraphy, which he turned into $1 greeting cards.

At the time the American Red Cross was providing disaster relief for victims of the tsunami and Japan’s big earthquake. “The disaster hit and I thought, I have to do something. I wanted to do something more than just giving them $100 or something. I don’t expect to make a ton of money with the cards,” at their low price, “but the most important thing is to make people aware that people in Japan still have a problem and they still need our help,” he says. And it is no small feat that he has been able to raise over $1000 so far.

The best case scenario for him would be that “we not forget that there are people in Japan who still need relief,” Nagae says. That is why his heart is in it.

When the American Red Cross discontinued the relief efforts that Nagae was contributing to he was not sure if he would continue his fundraiser. However, a trip to Japan earlier this year after sadly his father passed away inspired him to keep going.

All of the proceeds of Nagae’s Japan disaster relief project now go to the Salvation Army, which continues to provide support to tsunami and earthquake victims in Japan.

“I was talking to my mom about it and watching the news in Japan. She said even people in Japan start to forget about things after time has passed. There might be a donation box here or there, but it seems like the media moves on to other stories in Japan and especially in America. People don’t know they still need help,” Nagae explains.

Fortunately, his family lives outside of the tsunami's vast reach, in the town of Fukuoka. “I felt very fortunate. I’m just a regular guy, so I can only do so much. But I want to make a contribution. And since I don’t make money off my photography working as a videographer this felt like a fair way to do it,” Nagae says.

Nagae will be returning to Japan in November with middle school students from Ann Arbor public schools. He has been working on documenting their exposure to Japanese culture and will film the trip. They are traveling to Ann Arbor’s sister city, Hikone.

Keep a look out for Tim Nagae’s Japan disaster relief fundraising booth at The Sunday Artisan Market in Kerrytown, which is open on Sundays through Fall.