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Update #9: More Construction Pictures! Take a Look :-D
Well, so we didn't get the funding from here, so what? Does that mean we should abandon the dream? NO!
Construction has begun in full force! In the past couple of weeks our beautiful bus has been transformed and is now starting to take shape similar to what I had in mind.
Here are some pictures including an artist's rendition of what we are aiming for.
For those who might have just heard about this and want to donate directly to the cause here is the link to our blog (with many more pictures and construction updates) - there you can find the page titled 'support the vision' on the top right. :) THANK YOU.
Update #8: Flat-Art File & Water Tanks - Plus Last Days to Re-Pledge
Hi Friends,
Late last night I returned from a grueling little drive back and forth from San Diego to San Francisco Bay Area where I visited Bus-Gillig. The drive was make easier by the fact that I was joined by one of our supporters and a personal friend of mine from NYC (find out who by going to our blog plus see more pictures).
Our precious cargo consisted was a beautiful little flat-art file that will host prints up to 20x24in that will be used in art shows and other beautiful artwork. On half of the top it will have a seat facing the bench and the other half will support shelves and space for camera equipment. In front of the art file is the frame of what will be a very functional bench seat.
We also loaded the custom made water thanks that will have 75 gallons of fresh water for use in the darkroom and living. We are very lucky that unlike most other buses ours has a cargo bay in the middle of the body and that's where most 'life support' is going to be housed. A long beam runs the length of the bus and cuts in quite a lot from the top into the cargo bay space - that's why the tanks had to be so low in profile and long.
THANK YOU ALL WHO HAVE RE-PLEDGED ALREADY! WE APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH!
• • • • • • These are the last few days to re-pledge your support of this venture AND GET THE SAME REWARDS as were promised through this campaign. I am moving to start the full-time conversion and I will not have access to the darkroom or my large mural prints - please consider re-pledging or pledging a different amount if you feel like it. Same rewards are offered until 4:20PST on Feb 7th 2012 after that we'll have a different donation/reward system set up.
All the funds will go directly into equipment purchases ASAP. Also, if you DO NOT want to be listed on our blog as a supporter (just first name and last initital) OR want a different reward than you have chosen the first time OR have ANY other questions or concerns - PLEASE contact me through here or through thephotopalace@gmail.com
http://thephotopalace.blogspot.com/p/support-bus-donate-our-goodness-of-your.html
Have a great week.
Thank You.
Anton Orlov
Update #7: Opportunity to re-lpedge :)
Hello Friends!
If you would like to re-pledge your support please follow this this link and I will honor the pledges with the SAME REWARDS as were offered in the campaign FOR THE NEXT WEEK ONLY (afterward we'll have different rewards)
http://thephotopalace.blogspot.com/p/support-bus-donate-our-goodness-of-your.html
Thank You ALL so much for your initial support.
Please follow our blog (to which the link above will take you)
The Bus will be built - we will see the road this year - people will be taught photography all over this country - this is going to be Great!
Sincerely,
Anton Orlov
Update #6: 4 Days Left - Action Needed
Hello dear friends.
We are on the final stretch of the fund drive - only 4 days to go! We have raised just under 1/3 of the full goal and, as you may know, if we don't hit the goal the project will not be funded, your pledges will not go through and I won't have the pleasure of sending out all the wonderful rewards (I don't know if You really know how much I am looking forward to that part - having my art in people's homes is one of my highest pleasures).
There are 87 of You, out supporters - I can feel a personal connection to each and every one of You! I would like to encourage all of You lovely folks to give it one (or maybe two or three) more final push on social media and through Your personal networks. Let people know that YOU care enough about this to have supported it. Remind them that the Arts and Artists throughout history have always depended on the support of greater public (unless like Michael Angelo they had the Medichi family to back them or in the case of Prokhudin-Gorski a Russian Czar) in order to continue to enrich the society and culture they lived in.
Once again I would like to restate my complete and utter commitment to this project. Follow the progress - follow our blog http://thephotopalace.blogspot.com - we will be posting many updates on there as soon as I join Ryan and the conversion begins at full pace.
Thank you All once again. I still feel that we have a chance - I am a hopeless optimist? Perhaps... But then again, that's the way I like it - creating positive energy. Someone once said - 'build it and they will come'. I hope they were right because I'm building something very special :)
Sincerely,
Anon Orlov
Update #5: 7 Days Left
Dear Friends.
Here we are - one week away from the end of the funding campaign. I wish I was writing this update with the news that we have successfully reached our funding an it's all smooth sailing from here. Alas, we are still quite a ways away from our goal and the whole project is in jeopardy.
A few people who have had successful results using this platform have told me that in the last week and the very last few days the pace of the funding picks up. That's what I'm really hoping for.
The amount of support and warm encouraging messages that we have received in the past 7 weeks has been truly amazing and made us believe even stronger in our Mobile Photo dream. The seeds are planted and many folks around the country are waiting for us to roll into their town and enrich their arts community.
Please take a few moments here and there and for the next 7 days post the link to this project wherever you think people will take notice. Publicity is key right now and with less than a week to go the sense of urgency might give a bit of extra incentive for people to pledge their support.
Thank You All so much!
Sincerely,
Anton Orlov.
116
Backers
$9,892
pledged of $16,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on February 1.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
ANY and ALL BIDS OVER $10 will be thanked by name (or anonymously if you prefer to do so and note that when you are pledging) on a special Donors page on The Photo Palace official blog.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
A personal thanks on the back of a Gelatin Silver Post Card - hand printed in the darkroom on contemporary Ilford post-card paper.
Pledge $45 or more Pledge $45 or more
Hand made gelatin silver post card printed on vintage Kodak 1960's fiber paper. Captured and printed by Anton. These post cards are really cool - they are smaller than the cards today and really do look like something that was really mailed in the 60's. Today there are NO manufacturers of gelatin silver fiber paper that had standard mailing marking on the back. I found a small box of the paper in the darkroom that I once visited and therefore the availability of this reward is limiter to 50 pieces.
Pledge $85 or more Pledge $85 or more
Gorgeous signed glossy 8x8in Gelatin Silver fiber base print of the 1978 Gillig Bus. Image centers on the stylish design of the derriere of the vehicle contrasted by the vegetation in the background. Image captured on the day the bus was acquired before the papers were signed. Edition will be limited to the number of pledges in this category.
Pledge $90 or more Pledge $90 or more
For those who chose this pledge level - Ryan Kalem will make a limited signed edition of the 'Curtis LeMay' image available for preview on in the project description. 8x10 gelatin silver prints from the original 4x5 negative will be made in the edition equaling in number to the number of pledges in this category.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
A Perfect 100! A print of an overloaded passenger bus in Nepal barreling down the street right at the camera. 10x10in gelatin silver fiber base print edition will be made in the number equal to the amount of pledges in this category. Image available for preview in the main description text.
Pledge $111 or more Pledge $111 or more
HELP US DETERMINE OUR ROUT! That's right - we'll have a digital map of the continental US and You will get to put 1 pin in it and we will go through that place in the first 2.5 years of our journey! We can be right by your house! PLUS you will get the $25 reward as personal thanks.
Pledge $140 or more Pledge $140 or more
A beautiful signed hand-made 16-x16in fiber base gelatin silver print made in an edition equal to the number of pledges in this group. The image will be a portrait from the Japan series of 2008 - http://orlovphoto.com/galleries/japan/ (the actual image chosen for this printing may not be featured on that page at this time, I have about 120 rolls of film to chose from, so I'll chose the best one)
Pledge $222 or more Pledge $222 or more
HELP US DETERMINE OUR ROUT! That's right - we'll have a digital map of the continental US and You will get to put 2 pins in it and we will go through those places in the first 3 years of our journey! You can hop on board and be driven around your home town! PLUS you will get the $25 reward and a real gelatin silver print of you for when the bus arrives at the location chosen by you.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Postcard from the $25 reward level + 'Worker and Female', Japan Portfolio - limited edition 11x11in Selenium toned gelatin silver print on vintage Luminos Charcoal R fiber paper. This beautiful warm paper is rather legendary for its tooth. It was non-supercoated and therefore has very rich emulsion suitable even for Bromoil printing. I happen to have what is probably the last un-open pack of it on the West Coast.
Pledge $333 or more Pledge $333 or more
HELP US DETERMINE OUR ROUTE! That's right - we'll have a digital map of the continental US and You will get to put 3 pins in it and we will go through those places in the first 3 years of our journey! PLUS the $25 reward, PLUS an 11x11 gelatin silver portrait of you taken at one of the locations of your choice.
Pledge $444 or more Pledge $444 or more
HELP US DETERMINE OUR ROUTE! That's right - we'll have a digital map of the continental US and You will get to put 4 pins in it and we will go through those places in the first 3 years of our journey! PLUS the $25 reward, PLUS two 16x16 gelatin silver portraits of you taken at one of the locations of your choice.
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Incense in Chichicastenango Market" - a 32x32in Unique Gelatin silver print from Guatemala Portfolio. Signed, hand-printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber based paper in an edition of 1 in 2006. Since 2006 the manufacturing of the developer that this was printed with has stopped and the paper had its base changed so this is truly a unique print. Image available for preview at http://orlovphoto.com in Guatemala gallery of images - Captured on ISO100 with Rolleiflex TLR 6x6cm film and printed on Grandagon enlarging lens and glass negative carrier... The amount of detail and the sharpness of the real print is impossible to translate through a web view.
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Rain" - a 32x32in Unique Gelatin silver print from Guatemala Portfolio. Signed, hand-printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber based paper in an edition of 1 in 2006. Captured on Panatomic-X ISO32 film and developed in HC110. Very smooth grain and high hey image.
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Two Women in Traditional Clothing" - 32x32in Unique Gelatin silver print from Guatemala Portfolio. Signed, hand-printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber based paper in an edition of 1 in 2006. Since 2006 the manufacturing of the developer that this was printed with has stopped and the paper had its base changed so this is truly a unique print. Image available for preview at http://orlovphoto.com in Guatemala gallery of images - Captured on ISO32 Panatomic-X film with Rolleiflex Planar TLR 6x6cm film and printed on Grandagon enlarging lens and glass negative carrier... This is probably the sharpest one in the bunch - you can see the texture of every fiber in the garments and the incredible amount of color in the original scene translated wonderfully through Panatomic-X
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Tortilla Makers" - a 32x32in Unique Gelatin silver print from Guatemala Portfolio. Signed, hand-printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber based paper in an edition of 1 in 2006. Since 2006 the manufacturing of the developer that this was printed with has stopped and the paper had its base changed so this is truly a unique print. Image available for preview at http://orlovphoto.com in Guatemala gallery of images - Captured on ISO125 with Rolleiflex TLR 6x6cm film and printed on Grandagon enlarging lens and glass negative carrier... This is one of the two hand-held long exposure prints from the portfolio. 1/4sec at f2.8
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Self Portrait" - a 32x32in Unique Gelatin silver print from Guatemala Portfolio. Signed, hand-printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber based paper in an edition of 1 in 2006. Since 2006 the manufacturing of the developer that this was printed with has stopped and the paper had its base changed so this is truly a unique print. Captured on ISO100 with Rolleiflex TLR 6x6cm film and printed on Grandagon enlarging lens and glass negative carrier... The amount of detail and the sharpness of the real print is impossible to translate through a web view. Image available for preview in project description.
Pledge $475 or more Pledge $475 or more
"Lake Atitlan" - Guatemala Portfolio, 32x32in. This is the only print in the series to be made in edition of two. After I developed the first final another identical one was somehow asking to be made. In the center of the image there are two men in hats rowing small canoes - when examined closely the amount of detail present there is a delight. Captured on Rolleiflex 2.8F Planar with Agfa APX100, printed on Foma Chamois Cream Tone fiber.
Pledge $775 or more Pledge $775 or more
$85 reward plus a subscription to receive one 8x8 gelatin silver print a month for the next 12 moths after the end of the successful funding campaign. A total of 13 prints! The series will be called - Coming To. All prints will be hand-printed in limited edition equal to the amount of pledges in this category. Toward approximately the middle of the 12 month-period they will be actually printed inside The Bus! How COOL is that? Subject matter will concern The Photo Palace and its coming to fruition. March 2013 is the month you would get your final 13th print. INTERNATIONAL PLEDGES - please add at least $75 to cover the monthly shipping costs of 13 prints. Thank you.
Pledge $999 or more Pledge $999 or more
HELP US DETERMINE OUR ROUTE! 3 9's is a very powerful combination in Taoist philosophy! A location chosen by the one lucky person who will pledge this amount will be the first major destination of our maiden voyage. We may take some time getting there, but this will be our goal and shining beacon. PLUS this lucky and generous donor will receive 9 gelatin silver prints after a portrait session in The Photo Palace at the location chosen. LET US KNOW WHERE TO ROW! August 2012 is when we will be on the road if this project gets all it's funding and 1 year from then is the maximum time that will be allowed to get to the destination You chose - so we'll see you there by 8/2012
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
A portrait session of you alone or with your best buddies plus 5 16x20in gelatin silver prints made on location and even under your supervision, if you so desire. You will also be asked to select the film format - 35mm, 120 or large format. The session will be held either in the north-light studio or at some beautiful location (you can chose indoors or out and we'll select a location that will be close to the rout that we are taking and at the point where you want to intercept up). The delivery date listed is the earliest time we are certain the bus will be on the road (provided the success of this funding campaign) and so is the earliest you can schedule a portrait session. Please note that we can not drive to you specifically for this size of a pledge so you might have to come out to where The Photo Palace is, or wait for it to come near you - believe me, we will come close to wherever you are sooner or later.
Pledge $1,750 or more Pledge $1,750 or more
An EXPERIENCE of a lifetime! Once completed The Photo Palace will offer the donors at this level the opportunity to join the adventure and be on board for one full week! (you may chose a shorter period if you wish, but I don't think you'll want to come off once you're in) During that time the Donor will be participating in all the events associated with The Photo Palace including workshops, lectures, demonstrations and portrait sessions. Special arrangements will be offered by which the donor will have a selection of natural or urban settings. For example if You are more into Nature we can arrange for an alternative photography workshop just for You to be taught in a beautiful natural setting. Another example would be if You are more into the urban setting during the time that You are on board The Photo Palace would switch to 100% portrait-taking, art-showing and general go-go-mode. You would be free to make any art while You are on board including documentaries about the journey. This would be an unforgettable and fun time plus we would be very grateful for any donations on this level as this is an all-or-nothing game. The delivery date listed here is the first month that I am certain that we will be in full operation and hence the first month that we can offer this reward (if we get on the road before that time You would be welcome on board as soon as You wish). You will be free to make the specific arrangements and schedule Your 1 week period via e-mail or by phone right after the end of a successful funding campaign.
Pledge $3,300 or more Pledge $3,300 or more
TWICE THE EXPERIENCE of a lifetime! Everything in the $1750-one-week reward x2!!!!!! 2 weeks will really give you time to relax and absorb The Experience. I find that when going into a vastly different environment from my daily existence it takes me 3-4 days to 'get on the place's pace' and then I feel right at home so 2 weeks is usually the minimum I plan my trips for. Thank You x2. Or you can chose to have a companion to come with for a 1 week period.
Pledge $6,750 or more Pledge $6,750 or more
For the TRUE COLLECTOR: "The City" - a photographic series of 365 gelatin silver prints ready for installation PLUS a personalized portrait session on board The Photo Palace as described in $1000 reward, PLUS the $775 monthly print program! Print size in 'The City" series ranges from 30x40in to 4x4in. A selection of approximately 120 images is available for preview at http://orlovphoto.com/galleries/the-city/ 351 of the images prints comprise an installation in checker-board format of 16x16in prints as one type of squares and 8x8+4x4 prints as others. The entire show of 365 prints and it's installation can be viewed at http://orlovphoto.com/videos/. Prints are all hand-made and captured on Agfa APX100 film and printed on Forte cold-tone fiber base paper - both extraordinarily high quality products have since been discontinued. Printing stage took me 33 all-night sessions (I print best at night when the owls are out and the city is quiet), matting and installation took another 6 days total. I see this portfolio is the preparation for the documentary series that will be created using The Photo Palace and is therefore a great collectible for when the book will eventually be published with that work. The photo session will be held after The Photo Palace is complete, which will be August 2012, but only if we get the full funding on this project - otherwise we get nothing at all.
Project By
Connected as Photo-Palace Gillig-Bus (66 friends)
Anton was born in Moscow Russia and moved to California in 1994 at the age of 17. He started printing his own black and white images when he was 12. Anton holds a BFA in Photography from SJSU, had his art work published in books and magazines and exhibited in various venues in solo and group shows.
Antons dream of a mobile facility had been in development for a number of years and has been shared by Ryan Kalem since 2009.
Let us know if you make it to Ottawa, Canada!