Jenn LeBlanc

I posted a bit here on Kickstarter when I first heard about it and thought it would be a phenomenal way to get a documentary project funded, well here we go. The first of my shooter friends from APAD has a project up on Kickstarter and he needs funding. I am excited not only to see this project but to see how well the crowdsourcing works for this medium, I believe the potential is incredible.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Kickstarter here is the mini skinny, you can learn more detailed info, of course, from their website. Let’s say you have a project, it is a doozy, but it requires money, you have no money. No money = no project. Here comes Kickstarter. it is kind of like eBay for the arts and such. You post your project (you have to be invited) so you finagle an invitation and post a project. You are given a specific amount of time in which to raise a certain amount of money. In exchange for their patronage you give your backers something; most projects have different levels of funding, the more you donate, the better your swag. If the project isn’t fully funded by the deadline, it doesn’t fly.

This is where Kickstarter meet Documentary Photography: as it gets more and more difficult for freelancer’s in this new reality, the independent projects will find they are left behind. I find the future without these projects bleak and hope that new ways for funding will keep these projects alive. It is sad that so many are on a backburner, waiting for the spare time or money to see the light of day because the front money just isn’t really there any more. I know this from personal experience with my own documentary work, so I hope that this novel idea is just what some of these amazing projects need to get completed and seen by the world.

Here is a little info on Ghitis’ project taken from his page:

“A life of Holocaust education has left me with many questions about Poland, its people’s involvement in the Holocaust, and Polish-Jewish relations. Years ago, I read an article in the New York Times describing controversy over a discoteque that had been built within a mile of the Auschwitz. International pressure mounted and the disco was shut down, but it sparked questions I feel are the West’s collective unconscious: What happened to the Polish people after the Holocaust? And What is the current state of Polish-Jewish relations?…”

Danny Ghitis

Danny Ghitis’ Blog, with project updates

So help a freelancer out with bringing his project to the world. I did, and can’t wait for my big hug and limited edition print. Woot Woot!

Good luck!