Kickstarter feature, Popular Photography, February '12

8/13/2019 Kickstarter feature, Popular Photography, February '12

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THE LONG SHADOW OFCHERNOBYL Gerd Ludwig(gerdludwig.com) depictsa land and apeople stillrecoveringfrom the ’86disaster.

POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY FEBRUARY 2012 POPPHOTO.COM POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY

to the nearby Ukrainian villageof Pripyat. The mostly elderlyreturnees “preferred to die on theircontaminated soil, rather than froma broken heart in an anonymouscity suburb,” he has said.

Seeking to return in 2011, Ludwigfound his usual clients interestedmore in celebrities than in Cher-nobyl. NatGeo was out, having senthim just a few years before. So howwould he fund his labor of love?

Enter Kickstarter, “a market-place of ideas” on the Web for aand creative projects. In less thathree years, this New York-basestartup has helped photographfilmmakers, musicians, producdesigners, and other creative tyraise more than $100 million,primarily in small amounts. It hfostered more than 500 photo-related projects so far, with som$3 million in pledged funds.

n less than three years, some 500 photographers, independent bookublishers, product designers, and other photo-related project creators

have turned their dreams into a reality. How? By sourcing money fromhe crowd in an online incubator called Kickstarter. By Matthew Ismael Ruiz

Crowd FundingGERD LUDWIG’S heart lies deep inthe old Soviet Union, which thisGerman-born, Los Angeles-basedphotographer has chronicled fordecades. A 1993 National Geographic assignment first led him to shootthe ruins of the Chernobyl NuclearPower Plant, whose Unit 4 reactorhad melted down in April 1986.When the magazine sent him back20 years after the accident, hediscovered residents had returned


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Founded by Perry Chen,Yancey Strickler, and CharlesAdler, Kickstarter launched inApril 2009—the first company

to effectively “crowdsource”funds for the arts. The partnersbelieve that “art isn’t trying tomake a buck, it’s trying to find anaudience,” Strickler says.

Staffers review each projectand uphold certain rules: Nocharities, no investments,no “send me to photographyschool” pitches. Projects mustcreate something original,have a beginning and an end,

and reward their backers—forinstance, with a book, originalprint, or clever new gadget. Thecompany keeps a 5-percent fee.

The catch? Unlike some ofof its competitors, Kickstarterrequires you to reach yourfunding goal to collect any of thepledged money. Otherwise, thefunds revert to the backers; afate that befalls more than halfof accepted projects.

This risk spurs creators topush family, friends, fans, andfollowers to participate. Andevery time a project goes viral,

so does Kickstarter; its influencehas spread quickly.

Word reached Ludwig, andhis initial misgivings gave wayto enthusiasm. Raising $23,316in pledges from 435 backers, henearly doubled his goal. He usedthe extra funds to develop aniPad app with photos, videos,and essays from his trips toChernobyl’s exclusion zone.His biggest hassle? Shipping

60 copies of his 5-pound tome,Broken Empire: After the Fall of the

USSR, to backers in more than20 countries.

Help from FriendsLow on funds but high on ideas,Paul Stewart, founder of Over theEdge Books, wanted to publish aretrospective of Michael Miller’sphotos of the West Coast hip-hopscene in the ’90s. He shot album

WEST COAST

HIP-HOP: A

HISTORY IN

PICTURES

Michael

Miller’s work(michaelmillerphotography.com)portrayssomememorablecharacters.Clockwisefrom topleft: OaklandrapperTWICE R.I.P.flashes hisgrill; 2Pac’s

stark self-expressionmanifestsitself; 2Pacin repose; Snoop Doggposing in hisfavorite car.

covers for Cypress Hill and SnoopDogg, and rap luminaries suchas Eazy E, Dr. Dre, and TupacShakur frequently graced his lens.

With his photos came Miller’sinsider tales of figures that manyteens now idolize. Helming a tinypublishing house, Stewart neededmoney to start printing thebook—so he turned to Kickstarter.

Miller set their goal at $3,000;pledges exceeded twice thatamount by mid-December 2011.

Despite the site’s global reach,most support for the projectcame from his and Miller’s inner

circles. “I was shocked howmany of the pledges were closepersonal friends,” Stewart says.

But photojournalist Krisanne Johnson was not surprised. Hersocial circle raised $10,443 for “ILove You Real Fast,” her series onyouth culture in AIDS-ravagedSwaziland; she rewarded 22of her backers with hangingornaments handmade by Swaziwomen. Her friends “heard me

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K R I S A N N E J O H N S O N ( 5 )

talk about this project incessantlyfor the past six years,” she recalls.When she asked them to supporther Kickstarter campaign, they

took to the Internet with gusto.Her friends told their friends—and they sold it well.

Just as she began to experiencefatigue from self-funding aproject that had put her in debt,the community formed aroundher Kickstarter project came tothe rescue. The health of a coupleof the HIV-positive women wasrapidly declining, and Johnsonwanted to return to Swaziland

quickly to capture their storieswhile she still could. WithoutKickstarter, “It would have takenme another year and a half ormore to go back,” she says.

Instead she raised almost$3,000 over her goal, reachedher subjects in time, and usedthe momentum from hersuccess to win a grant to lether return again soon. Shecredits her Kickstarter backers

for her renewed vigor. “Theygave me all this energy,” shesays. “I just wrote them to say,‘This is because of you.’”

Business PartnerFor many photographers,Kickstarter’s role is more teammember than money bag. Thestaff watches every project frominception to fruition—or failure.Employees regularly back projectswith their own money; a museumof sorts displays rewards intheir spartan headquarters onManhattan’s Lower East Side.

Strickler, a former musiccritic, is comfortable playingtastemaker: The site’s mostprolific backer, he has fundedmore than 500 projects, oftensending personal notes to theircreators. And for a photographer,being named a “Project We Love”practically guarantees success.

Just ask Jon Crispin (joncrispin.com), who calls this seal ofapproval “the key.” His project—

I LOVE YOU

REAL FAST

Krisanne

Johnson

(krisanne

johnson.com) shoots

youth culture

in Swaziland

(clockwise

from top

left): A

young

woman

socializes in

a rural bar;

a nightclub

in Manzini,

Swaziland;

a 20-year-

old womanwith HIV

sits in her

room; a teen

practices

a flip off a

wall; 40,000

girls take

part in the

annual

Umhlanga

dance.

photographing suitcases leftbehind by former patients at theWillard Psychiatric Center inWillard, NY—averaged four or

five new backers a day. But, hesays, “in the first half-hour afterKickstarter’s email went out, Ihad more than 50 new backers,and it just went wild from there.”

NPR picked up the story, andother sites followed. Strickler wasone of his 674 backers.

Crispin was surprised by thecommunity that formed aroundhis project. “I work mostly alone.I am not by nature a joiner or

particularly touchy-feely,” hesays. “What has blown me awayis the connection that I feel withmy backers. I see them as a largecommunity of people who arewith me every step of the way.It’s very meaningful to me.” Andin the process, he found a built-inaudience for his work.

In contrast to Kickstarter’scuration stands IndieGoGo.

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CROWD FUNDINGCONTINUED FROM PAGE 72

“We’re completely open to anycampaign,” co-founder SlavaRubin says. “There is no humancuration.” IndieGoGo relies on analgorithm to pick which productsto feature on the homepage. Andit offers one option Kickstarterdoes not: flexible funding.

Kickstarter’s thresholdpledge system may be its

most polarizing feature. WithIndieGoGo’s flexible fundingoption, creators keep all thepledges they receive, though thefee rises to 9 percent if they donot reach their goal.

Strickler insists that returningfunds from unrealized goalsis crucial to the site’s risk-freenature: Backers are only charged

Kickstarter’s

chief

competitor,

IndieGoGo,

allows for

flexible

funding

options.

if the creator collects enoughmoney to complete the project,and creators “know they’re onlyobligated to go through with thisif they have the cash to do it.”

Kickstart Your Project To fund your photographythrough Kickstarter, you’ll firsthave to meet its standardsfor what defines a creativeproject—they won’t judge yourphotography, but look elsewhereif all you want are some newlenses. “This is not just generalfundraising,” Strickler says. “It’ssomething specific.”

Nor is it “a way to make a

quick buck,” adds Ludwig.The most important step?Take the process seriously.The most successfulproposals typically post agreat promotional video, offermeaningful rewards, and engagebackers with regular progressreports. Trying to identify whatmakes a project successful, thecompany posts (and updates)its findings in the “Kickstarter

School” on its site. Crispin sayshe followed Kickstarter’s adviceto the letter.

Since the entire processtakes place on the Internet,photographers without socialmedia skills must adapt. SaysKrisanne Johnson, “You have tobecome really savvy, fast.”

Most of all, try not to think ofcrowdfunding as a glorified tip jar. The crowd has a tendency

to speak with its wallet, fundingonly those projects it deemsworthy. Kickstarter especiallyserves as a litmus test forviability: Only 44 percent ofprojects reach their goal, yet 85percent of the money pledgedgoes to successful projects.

So maybe it’s time to put thatcrazy idea out there—the worldmight just let you know howmuch it loves your crazy.

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Kickstarter feature, Popular Photography, February '12

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