Crowd Funding for Photography Gets Off to Shaky Start
- By Pete Brook
- March 29, 2011 |
- 1:08 pm |
- Categories: Internet, Photojournalism, Politics, Process
Statue in Laos. Photo: Tomas van Houtryve
A month after the launch of the new crowd funding platform for photojournalism, Emphas.is, one of its users reports from the road. Belgian photographer and Emphas.is fundraiser Tomas van Houtryve tells us about the good, the bad and the future of this work in progress.
“It’s a bit like being a test pilot for an exotic new aircraft,” says van Houtryve. “I can feel the huge potential and the power of the platform, but I’ve also had to adapt and cope as the site engineers have worked through fixing the early technical glitches.”
Van Houtryve is referring to coding issues that delayed the official launch of Emphas.is. As developers raced to finish the site, the launch was pushed back; first days, then weeks. Set to launch in January, Emphas.is went live March 7th.
When Emphas.is was proposed last year, fanfare rang out among new media evangelists and photography bloggers alike. Like a Kickstarter for photographers, the site offered exclusive access to photojournalists and their projects in exchange for small contributions. Nieman Labs, The British Journal of Photography, New York Times, Fast Company, BBC and even we here at Raw File all lined up to spread the gospel of crowd-funding.
“I really wanted to be one of the first photographers to give Emphas.is a try,” says van Houtryve. “Based on the launch dates that they initially announced, I cleared my schedule for several weeks to dedicate to fundraising, followed by a trip to Laos timed with key events on the ground.”
Van Houtryve’s ongoing project 21st Century Communism documents the remaining Red nations in the world. Laos will be his final chapter.
Unwilling to wait for the Emphas.is launch and risk missing events in Laos, van Houtryve took matters into his own hands and posted a project synopsis, video and an early call for support on his own website. He followed that with a “flurry of emails and Facebook postings.” His guile paid off – within three days he raised $1935. “It was short of the total $8800 budget that I need to finance the project,” says van Houtryve, “but I had enough [money] to book my plane ticket for Laos.”
As it happened, the Emphas.is site went live the day before van Houtryve’s departure for the small Communist nation.
Upon launch, Emphas.is site’s code sputtered; backers were unable to make donations. Three days later van Houtryve arrived at a town in Laos with an internet connection and saw contributions were starting to add up. The teething problems were being addressed.
Van Houtryve sent out his first exclusive dispatch to the project backers, with details about crossing the border and a “shady Chinese casino in the Golden Triangle.” Then it was back on the road.
The pressure of time has been the hardest challenge for van Houtryve, “I would not recommend tight schedules where one has to juggle shooting, fundraising and a withering travel schedule. It’s been very intense keeping all the elements on track.”
Despite travails, van Houtryve sees a lot of promise. “It’s an intuitive model,” he says. “Backers have started to pose relevant questions. As my project proposal has made its way through social networks and attracted support from strangers, I’ve made some really fruitful new connections. In addition to generous funding contributions, several individuals have stepped forward with key contacts and very precise and helpful advice. I have already managed to make stronger photos due to their input. This is a pleasant shift over the lone-wolf existence.”
The attraction of an initiatives such as Emphas.is are their transparency. As it skips, stumbles and grows up in public, we are witness to its successes and failures; funders learn at the same pace as the developers and the photographers.
“Emphas.is isn’t a magic bullet that will solve every problem plaguing visual journalism, but I think it is turning out to be a good model for long-term documentary projects,” says van Houtryve. “I have a crowd of very supportive people behind me, and it is clear that they have a stake in the project’s success. It’s very inspiring.”
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Check out Tomas van Houtryve’s Emphas.is pitch – 21st Century Communism – Laos and all the Emphas.is projects seeking funding.
Pete Brook covers art and photography for Wired.com's Raw File blog. He also writes and edits Prison Photography. He lives in Seattle.Follow @rawfileblog and @brookpete on Twitter.
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