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Update #55: Deliveries.
Hello dear Kickstarters. Some of you have been contacting us with concerns about the delivery of your books. We are working hard to get the books to you but the simple truth is that we are having some trouble (as South Africans) importing the bulk stock destined for international cities close to you.
We are glad to say that most of our local South African deliveries have been done (some personally, by bicycle of course, here in Cape Town; we have a few more to do) or mailed out, and if you haven't received your books yet it will be with you in a matter of days. Please let us know when you receive them - maybe send a picture or two if you can...
Our US shipment has finally gotten the go-ahead and we are hoping for no more hold-ups. It's been quite a task getting paperwork and permissions arranged as a foreigner trying to import books into a country where we do not live. Of course this is not the problem of our backers - we merely want to explain the unexpected difficulties encountered in trying to get your well-deserved books and rewards to you.
Our UK and Australian shipments also seem to be ready to sail - again a mountain of new regulations and rules have caused us to miss our allocated shipping vessels, more than once - but we are holding thumbs for no snags.
Then the EU - we have so far unsuccessfully tried have the books, destined for Berlin, shipped to Hamburg because of a new regulation that requires an EORI number to 'import' anything into the EU. We have basically been left to ask acquaintances if anybody who has an EORI is willing to assist us in getting the books into Germany, but no luck. There are no agents that can legally do this and our import clearing agents are also at a loss. We need that number EORI it seems - and without being a registered business in Germany we cannot get one. So now we are looking at alternatively sending books to the Netherlands in the hope that someone there might be able to assist us in receiving the books, from where we have a contact that can store books and mail the packages out across the EU.
We assure you all that we are doing all we can to get your books to you. We really value and appreciate what you all have done for us and the Bicycle Portraits project, and the thought of you being disappointed in us really saddens us.
As soon as your books arrive at their individual ports out highest priority is to get them mailed out to you as soon as possible.
Your friends,
- Stan & Nic
Update #54: Book delivery & first exhibition
Hi Everyone!
Some news regarding the book delivery and first exhibition.
Book delivery
We expected, had the desire and made the commitment to deliver your pre-ordered books before our launch here in Cape Town, but the distribution to almost 600 people all around the world has become slightly complicated. Posting all the books from South Africa to individuals in the other countries would just be unaffordable and our plan to forward books directly from the printers in Singapore to some major cities outside South Africa (New York, London, Sydney and Berlin) is just taking a lot longer to organise than anticipated. We are doing it through some work connections, friends and family who are receiving, storing and forwarding the books to you. As it stands now it looks like it might take another whole month before you receive the books as they still need to be shipped from Singapore.
Please accept our apologies for the delayed delivery but know that we did indeed print the book, it looks beautiful and is worth waiting for.
We are giving a book to every individual that appear in them, but have not really hit the longer roads for that yet. We've met Atang and Takura on our path, they are both in the yellow book.
First exhibition
Most of you have received the invite to the first Bicycle Portraits exhibition - we are doing a pop-up exhibition in Long street, a busy and well known road downtown in Cape Town and have been doing some DIY work there today. Hope to see all you Capetonians there!
The exhibition opens this Thursday 7pm on 19th of April and runs to 11 May.
Thanks for your patience regarding the delivery, please feel free to email us if you have any further enquiries - info@bicycleportraits.co.za
- Nic & Stan
Update #53: Final samples here!
The books have been printed and they look amazing! Thanks again for all your support, pledges, pre-orders and patience.
They are being shipped directly from Singapore in batches to a few different countries from where it will be delivered to you in the months of April or May.
If you live in Cape Town we might see you personally as we will try our best to deliver your books by bicycle!
- Nic & Stan
Update #52: Thanks.
We would just like to say THANKS to all our backers - you made it happen!
All three Kickstarter projects that we set out to do in the beginning of 2010 have now been successfully completed, and we are going ahead with the printing of the book this month already.
The most valuable aspect of funding a part of the printing through Kickstarter and pre-orders has been the connections and friends we've made through the process. Thanks for all your encouragement and for sharing the project with others.
We also look forward to meeting more of you in the future and are very excited about those of you joining us on a little bicycle trip when we go deliver some of the books to the individuals we photographed. Our plan is to personally take a book to every individual that appear in them, this will allow us to see how everyone is doing, and we also have a dream to have mini book launches in some smaller towns - where some of those that appear in the book can meet each other. The book is also not the end of the project, lots more to come - we will tell you about it as we move along!
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When we launched the third Kickstarter, we were still deep in the spokes cleaning up some undesirable chromatic aberration, sometimes spending up to 2 hours per image.
Many late nights - transcriptions, translations, editing, quotes, specifications...
We clearly couldn't get enough riding in, Stan getting desperate...
Printed some copies of the book for proof reading at the local print shop... Could write a whole essay about that experience. That huge calculator serves a very important purpose - comic relief.
Apart from the professional proof readers we had friends, neighbours and strangers read the books - good news is everyone loves it so much they kept missing the typos and mistakes! We had to go through it over and over and over.
We both bought a prints from the 1934 Tour de France, Federico Ezquerra in the mountains - to look at whenever we felt like we needed to get over a mountain of work through the night...
Choosing 9 ribbons, exporting the PDF's...
All the while the Kickstarter was running... and we almost finished the book at the same time as the funding deadline! The files have been sent to Singapore and we've sent a very special instructions package for them with colour proofs and mockups. It all looks really beautiful.
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In case you wanted to order some more books, you can do so here -
http://www.dayonepublications.com/Bicycle_Portraits/Order.html
Every single order helps the development of the other aspects of the project and we are also constantly pushing the quality of the book materials and finishing as much as we can right up to the point where they press that print button.
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Remember to go ride, even if it is just around the block.
- Nic & Stan
Update #51: Less than 20 hours to go...
It's true. Two years of work towards turning the Bicycle Portraits project into a series of three books will finally come to end an tomorrow night - just 19 hours from now. At the time of writing this we are 95% funded - very close - and I believe with a last little push we will make it. If all goes as planned the three volumes that make up the series will be sent off to our printers in Singapore on Friday morning, and in the new year we will receive a shipment of beautiful books that we will promptly send off to you, our backers. Thank you all again, you have been incredibly patient and very supportive, and we truly appreciate every encouraging and praising message you've sent us over the last two years.
I've been wanting to extend a special thanks to one of our generous backers who got a little more involved in Bicycle Portraits when he came across the story of Edward Paulus and the dikwiel he rides every day.
Doug Ingram, from Sydney, Australia, noticed the sorry state of Edward's saddle and kindly gifted the money to buy him a brand new one. Since Edward lives outside a small town called Springbok and does not have a bank account, we had to make another plan. Nic and I got in touch with local bicycle shop owner and radio DJ, Brunhild Strauss, who is a paraplegic and rides a specially built recumbent style hand cycle, to see if he could assist us.
After a bit of logistical negotiation we got Brunhild to order, and then present, Edward with his new saddle. It took a while for the two to cross paths but when Edward finally received his new saddle he was over the moon, and excited to be much more comfortable on his daily commute!
Doug - Edward thanks you and your wonderful family, and we are proud to have you as part of our Bicycle Portraits family!
Take care and ride safe out there!
Counting the minutes...
- Stan & Nic.
95
Backers
$9,089
pledged of $7,500 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 16, 2010.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
You get a special mention on our official website for the book. And constant updates of new additions as we shoot them.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
We will send you a unique Bicycle Portrait postcard when you pledge, from wherever we are on the road, and you will have access to a private link to the entire book online. And all of the above.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
FOR $50 (R380) YOU PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK now and we send it to you as soon as it is launched! We will also send you a unique Bicycle Portrait postcard when you pledge, from wherever we are on the road. And all of the above.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
FOR $100 YOU PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK now and we send it to you as soon as it is launched, plus you get a lifelong special rate when ordering copies of the book. We will also send you a unique Bicycle Portrait postcard when you pledge, from wherever we are on the road. And all of the above.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Your name will appear on a special 'Thank you' page in the book, you will receive a free copy of the book when it is launched, and a lifelong special rate when ordering copies of the book. And all of the above.
Pledge $750 or more Pledge $750 or more
You will receive a large professional archival photographic print of your choice of one of the images from the book. Your name will appear on a special 'Thank you' page in the book, you will receive a free copy of the book when it is launched, and a lifelong special rate when ordering copies of the book. And all of the above.
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
You will receive a limited edition copy of the book signed by the authors and inscribed to you personally. You will receive a large professional archival photographic print of your choice of one of the images from the book. Your name will appear on a special 'Acknowledgements' page in the front of the book. And all of the above.
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
You will receive a very special limited edition copy of the book signed by all the individuals who appear in the book (each on their own page), and of course the authors (who will inscribe it with a personal message to you) and the production team. Your name will be set apart on the special 'Acknowledgments' page in the front of the book. You will receive a large professional archival photographic print of your choice of one of the images from the book. And all of the above.
Project By
Stan Engelbrecht / Nic Grobler
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Stan Engelbrecht is a Cape Town (South Africa) based photographer and publisher who has published numerous books, including 'Miss Beautiful' and the best-selling 'African Salad' ( www.dayonepublications.com ). He harbors a deep love for bicycles and has a keen interest in contemporary South African culture.
Nic Grobler's interest in bicycles and cycle culture has steadily built up over the last 7 years through much international travel accompanied by bicycle. Spending so much time away from home and immersed in different cultures has converged his interests and attention to things that universally help increase happiness, like chocolate and bicycles. Finding that the empowering use of bicycles, as seen in various other countries, has not been adopted enough in South Africa, he is keen on playing a part in the changing of bicycle culture closer to his home. Design and animation is what keeps him busy otherwise. He currently lives in Cape Town (South Africa).
