Re: [Leica] Magnum

[S Dimitrov <sld@earthlink.net>]

The Piledriver project is self financed to this day, ten years later.
Even more poignant now that one of the founding members of the American
Federation of Labor to which they are signatories, the Carpenters Union,
has recently pulled out of the AFL-CIO.
I did get a Polaroid sponsorship for two and a half years for the
project. This in turn bumped up the status of the work and opened up a
whole different slew of venues that I wouldn't of been able to tape into
otherwise. Polaroid then placed six prints in their Permanent
Collection, which has since been reduced to five due to a fund raising auction.
Projects like this one are important in that they help keep the original
fire going that first brings one to photography. Also given the rich
tradition of addressing certain issues through the means of the
photographic medium, these types of projects are irresistible.
Personal projects, I find, are the best motivators for photo editors to
hire me for work. Which in turn helps pay, after the usual sundries, to
do even more of them.

Best,
 Slobodan Dimitrov



Johnny Deadman wrote:
> 
> Example: photo editors of the few magazines that still publish extended
> photostories now report that they get fewer and fewer self-financed projects
> coming over the threshold. Either it's no longer financially viable, or
> people have just given up because they can't get the pictures out.
> 
> (I got in the mail yesterday a magazine called "Labor's Heritage" featuring
> a beautiful, long photo-essay by Slobodan Dimitrov of this list, shot on his
> 4x5... portraits of construction workers. Stunning. Slobodan, I can't
> believe you made any money from this project, but thanks for doing it! I'm
> passing the mag on...)
>