Committing to a photography project takes passion, dedication, and it always takes money.  Self-funded projects are proof of a photographer's dedication to the story they want to tell the world.  I want to focus on two extraordinary projects that are pushing forward right now, projects you can help to see the light of day.

Marissa Roth has been photographing woman in war zones for 28 years.  She has brought her work together into "One Person Crying: Women and War," and a Kickstarter campaign to help with the expense of producing a traveling exhibition of the work. As Roth says,

"The consequences of war for women in countries, cultures and communities that are directly affected by it, have often been overlooked. My main hope for this project is to show that war doesn’t discriminate how it metes out pain or suffering, that women are basically the same everywhere in how they endure war and live with its aftermath into their post-war lives."

From Serbia to Vietnam to Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, Roth has photographed and interviewed women to hear their stories and record them for others to hear.  The project is now finishing, and The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles will be debuting a major exhibition of this work on August 16th, with 88 black and white photographs.  But Roth is looking to take this project further, and bring it to audiences everywhere.  That's how important it is.

You can help make this happen here:

Jason Florio and Helen Jones-Florio are passionate explorers who have made The Gambia, Africa their particular focus.  In 2009 they walked the length of the country.  WALKED the length of the country, a total of 930km!  This time out they are going on a river journey, a 1000km journey through three countries: Guinea, Senegal and The Gambia, following the Gambia River.

The Florios want to create a modern-day account of the people, societies, and life along the length of one of Africa’s last, free-flowing, major rivers. There have been rumors that the river is to be dammed, and the Florios want to try and document the people and environment before it happens.

They plan on traveling by canoe and foot through the homelands of over seven different tribes.  The journey will,

"begin at the source of the river, where it trickles out of the Fouta Djallon highlands, of Guinea, on into hippo-abundant Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal, and finally into The Republic of the Gambia - following the same course as the early gold and slave traders had done century’s ago – to the 10km wide mouth of the river, where it opens into the Atlantic Ocean." 

To fund their expedition the Florios are reaching out for sponsors and donations of money and equipment through their website, and where, for just $25 you have a chance to win a print from Jason Florio. 

"An Exchange – print draw: Just $25/£16 puts your name in the hat and you could pull out one of Jason Florio’s fine art photography prints – Deadline 31st August 2012"

You can read more from Jason here. And follow their journey here and on Facebook. 

And please consider donating  here

These photographers are working hard to tell stories not being told anywhere else.  And it's important to support these independent endeavors.  I have and I hope you will join me.  The returns are going to be fantastic!

Back from the Sunshine

So I'm back from sunny, warm Florida, and I have to say it's a little jolting. I was getting into the t-shirt weather and the great folks I went down with. I want to thank Julie Grahame of aCurator, photographer extraordinaire Jason Florio, Daylight Magazines's Michael Itkoff, Alison Zavos, Feature Shoot's publisher and the exceptional photo producer and blogger Helen Jones-Florio for being on my panel and delivering such terrific information. I hope we can take this on the road sometime soon. You were all really wonderful.

There are a lot of things brewing for me now that I'm back, and I'm getting excited about breaking new ground for myself in this photo world we live in. Next Thursday, January 27th from 4pm - 5pm I will be conducting a webinar, "Build A Better Online Portfolio" at the invitation of Photoshelter. There will be some Q&A, and I'll be offering suggestions to photographers who have submitted their portfolios for review. Don't miss this! You can sign up here

And on February 1, the online gallery I curated for the Griffin Museum of Photography, featuring the work of Sophia Wallace will go live. Her "Modern Dandies" project is really worth a look, so stay tuned for that. You'll be able to see it here.

I'm hoping to create more panels this year, and curate more shows both in New York and around the country. If you have any ideas, please send them to me. I will also expand my consulting, so those of you who have been procrastinating about refreshing and refocusing your business drop me a line. I can offer you straight-forward suggestions and ideas to make your portfolio, website and marketing clearer and more targeted towards success.

We're just starting 2011, and there are some wonderful new things to come. I'll keep you all posted.

If it's Florida it's FOTOFusion

I came down to West Palm Beach just ahead of the newest New York snowstorm to attend FOTOFusion, a photo festival targeted mostly to amateur and semi-professional photographers in the area.

Yesterday I sat on the Alison Zavos panel: "Cut Through the Noise: Smart Marketing Strategies for Photographers," with Julie Grahame, and while the audience was kind of small, it was enthusiastic. I had a really good time talking about what I see as included in the idea of social media: portfolio reviews and promo cards. After all, one-on-one contact with art buyers, photo editors, gallerists and the like is social, no?

It's important that photographers think clearly about what they're looking to achieve when they consider attending a review. Who do they want to meet? Is their work ready to be presented? Does it have a cohesive focus or subject? Is it a real body of work? Can the photographer talk about their work in a clear and concise way?

I know there are those who see portfolio reviews as a rip-off industry. I don't see it that way. So many photographers work in a vacuum, and having trained, outside eyes view their work is vitally important. Additionally, if you chose the right review, you can get person-to-person contact with people who you would not normally have a chance to talk with. It can be the thing that really moves you forward and allows you to pitch yourself to potential clients.

Promo cards were another thing I talked about. Having spent many years as a photo editor sitting in ugly offices or at cubbyholes I loved getting great promo cards to pin up on my walls. These were the photographers I hoped to work with, and their cards were always staring me in the eyes while I worked. I often cannot understand the choices people make when printing promo cards. And I never understand why more thought isn't given to what they expect to come from the card, rather than the graphic design of the card. By that I mean do the image or images you've chosen really represent who you are as a photographer? And if I'm looking right at your card, doesn't it make sense to have all your important info (URL, cell number, email address) right in front of my eyes also?

I came down here with Alison, Julie, Jason Florio and Helen Jones-Florio to do my own panel (with Michael Itkoff as well), and that one is tomorrow. But today we had the most exciting event of the festival so far.

In the middle of Jason and Helen's talk:"A 930km African Photography Odyssey" their presentation of their incredible walk across the country of Gambia, an alarm went off and a disembodied voice announced we had to leave the building immediately due to an unspecified emergency.

We spent about fifteen minutes milling outside with more people than I've seen at this festival, until we were let back in to hear Jason and Helen finish their talk. It was like a grade school fire drill.

Tomorrow is my panel, and I plan on blogging more about what I've seen and done. I like seeing people I know, hanging out and eating meals with my friends, and everyone is really friendly. Add to the fact that Florida is the only state with NO SNOW, and I'm happy as a kitten with catnip.

More to come from here, so stay tuned....