Kickstarter

Dear Viewer,

Background information on CONTACT LENS: Environmental Portrait Project.

As a documentary photographer, China, Tibet, Korea and Mongolia are but a few of the regions of the world that have taken me underwing to show me something about grace, hardship, beauty, resiliency and curiosity. My hometown of New York City, too, reveals something indelible about the human spirit everyday in the percussive, arrhythmical choreography of wanderers, go-getters, and souls between and beyond.

As the title suggests, CONTACT LENS alludes to the role photography plays in our lives in bringing people and places into sharper focus. It also alludes to the "corrective process" imagemaking can shepherd by bringing distal experiences into contact with one another while maintaining mutual sovereignties. What was once invisible or inaccessible for any number of geographical, cultural or political reasons, simultaneously becomes demystified and far more compelling than any readymade stereotype could hope to support and perpetuate.

The fruits of this labor have manifested in a number of exciting ways, including: a significantly expanding body of photographic work; publications of this portfolio in various printed and on-line literary journals and blogs; and the self-publication of a print-on-demand monograph.

What I am setting out to accomplish with your generous support:

1. To geographically expand my environmental-portraiture project CONTACT LENS to include Japan and additional regions in South Korea, as well as additional regions within the United States. This means most profoundly, returning to Asia during the summer of 2011 while I am on break from teaching high school students.

2. To self-publish a second, more conceptually and aesthetically realized CONTACT LENS book early in the Fall of 2011. This means setting aside funds to create, order and ship a limited number of copies.

3. To generate interest in exhibition opportunities for this body of work via self-promotional strategies, including distribution of the CONTACT LENS book to potential curators and gallery/museum directors. While this is an ongoing process, progress is directly connected to the successful completion of the first two goals.

What the funds will be used for:

1. Travel. Travel to and fro Asia is costly, and particularly when my travel options as a full-time teacher are limited to summer breaks. Your support will help me purchase airfare, pay for hostels/lodging once in Asia, and travel within Asia (from Japan to South Korea and back).

2. Publication and self-promotion. I will use a service such as Blurb to create and publish my second print-on-demand CONTACT LENS book. I learned a lot from the first time around, and am ready to improve upon the successes of that publication. Your support will help me pay the necessary fee to use their services, as well as print a limited number of copies to distribute to potential/interested gallery/museum directors.

Where has my work been, and where will it go next:

The on-line journal Ancora Imparo recently selected a portion of my portfolio for inclusion on their website. Not only is this a great honor, and sizable validation for the scope and significance of this endeavor, but it provides some behind-the-scenes access to my process as a documentary photographer: http://ancoraimparo.org/

Additional resources include the publications that this work has appeared in within the past two years: The Pinch Journal (Spring 2010); The Blue Earth Review (Winter 2010); as well as the various on-line journals, blogs and news sources that have picked up/noted my work to date:

- In Kosovo: http://kosovotwopointzero.eu/en/blog/people/gjerat-ndryshojne-26-11-2010
- In Australia: http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/fun-stuff/galleries/Gary-Joseph-Cohen/2838/
- In Peru: http://perufotolibre.com/2009/12/gary-joseph-cohen-barackstock.html

You can also preview a previous, more scaled-down version of this project on Blurb.com. This may serve as a prototype for the larger scale project outlined above: http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/1389159

In addition to my career as a photographer, I have also been published as a writer in a number of respectable, national and international literary journals and anthologies. These you can access via my website: www.garyjosephcohen.com

For additional resources on my endeavors, I offer the following links:

http://viiphoto.ning.com/profile/GaryJosephCohen

http://afonline.artistsspace.org/view_artist.php...

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/gjcohen

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

I will be more than happy to share my CV with you upon request, and to field any questions you may have about my work and/or project.

I sincerely appreciate your invested time and interest, and look forward to providing you with updates as they become available. Your support means the world to me...and it is the world I hope to return to you, one photograph and one story at a time.

Be well,
Gary Joseph Cohen