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Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate the abundance in our lives and share it with our loved ones. Of course, like any other holiday intertwined with a sentiment, it shouldn't be just that one day. Love, friendship, gratitude, and other honorable human emotions are everywhere around us all the time. It takes only a moment to acknowledge them.
In this issue of The Muse, I'd like to say thanks to my friend Dan Root, an extraordinarily talented photographer who in 2004 joined me on a journey that neither one of us knew would last a decade.
Ten years ago next month, an earthquake deep below the Indian Ocean set off a series of tsunamis that devastated the shores of eleven countries, took over a quarter million lives and left hundreds of thousands injured and destitute. International aid and volunteers poured into the affected regions immediately, but all that attention, I knew, would evaporate.
Still, I wanted to do something. Something that would last, that would carry its message across time.
The idea of a photodocumentary sparked. I emailed ICLEI, a client of ours, and proposed that we document the process of rebuilding and tell the stories of resilience playing out on the ground on an individual, human level.
They loved the idea and gave us a travel grant; within weeks Dan was on a plane crossing the Pacific.
Weeks later, he returned from Thailand and India, two regions our client had ground support in, with hundreds of images at once evocative and profound.
I'd wanted to do a book of those images, but we didn't have enough funds then. Instead of a book, we built a web site that's up to this day. We came close a few times to major photo exhibits: the Sundance Film Festival, an international conference in Switzerland.
But we never let go of the dream. We made a promise to the people we photographed, that their images would live on, that their stories would never be forgotten. That the devastation and grief they went through would turn into meaning and value for others.
Today, we fulfill that promise.
~ Birgitte
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And so it is that we embark today on the next step in this long journey. Today, we launch the crowdfunding campaign for TSUNAMI: IMAGES OF RESILIENCE, a gorgeous full-color hardcover book of the most unforgettable images from Dan's travels in India and Thailand.
We have been working on the book since this summer: Dan and I went through his several hundred photographs all over again. From those, we selected the images that told the most powerful stories, that spoke of the most meaningful moments—moments no mainstream news channel bothered to capture.
These are the unsung moments of strength and resilience, of the indomitable will and determination to rebuild and start anew, that Dan saw all around him in the faces and smiles (yes, smiles!) of the people he photographed: men, women, and especially the children.
The book measures 10x8 landscape and is printed on luminous 80lb paper with a matte laminate cover, by a wonderful printer in Minnesota. We are also producing an eBook and a series of limited edition archival prints.
Our goal is to print as many copies as possible, so that the book may be distributed as widely as possible. Net proceeds from book sales will support disaster preparedness initiatives as well as programs on resilience and trauma survival programs not related to the 2004 Tsunami. Because the spirit of resilience is human and universal, regardless of the situation that might call for it.
Please join Dan and me in supporting this unique and wonderful project.
Even if you're not in a position to support it financially, you can still help make a big difference by forwarding this eLetter to your friends and loved ones, or hitting those social links at the top of our campaign page (apparently that helps catch the attention of the Indiegogo staff and they just might decide to feature us in their newsletter!)
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Ever wonder what really goes on behind the scenes of a crowdfunding campaign? This is our very first time, so we wondered too. Here's what we discovered:
THE MAKING OF A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN:
- Staying up insane hours and having to write eloquently about your grand purpose after taking care of a four-year-old all day
- Making calls to international aid organizations from your child's playground
- Shooting videos in two different states and trying to match framing, lighting, and background
- Coming up to speed real fast on terms like "smythe-sewn," "signatures," and "Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl"
- Discovering that even ten years later you and your photographer have slight (ahem) differences in aesthetic opinion
- Demoing the campaign video to anyone who'll watch—even on a ride to the airport
- Weighing hardcover books on your kitchen scale meant for cookie recipes
- Assessing how much weight in flyers a helicopter can carry--and what sort of insurance you'll need in case it can't
I'm sure at least some of you have done a crowdfunder. I'd LOVE to hear your take on it!
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