Kickstarter

Over the last several years, I have spent a few weeks each summer tromping around my family’s land in central New Hampshire, my antique 8x10 view camera over my shoulder, creating a series of black and white photographs.  Set in the warm breeze of a New England summer, the images are of my family and of my childhood place. They explore the experience of growing up, becoming an adult, and still longing for a world both real and imaginary. Through these images I can see my mother growing up in this place, as well as my grandfather and my great-grandfather. They help me connect with my family and with my roots.

Pictures like these take time. They take dedication and focus.  You need to get into the rhythm of the summer. You need to be keenly aware of the world in front of you, and quick enough to trap it. The days are used for photographing and the nights for developing the film in a makeshift darkroom I built in our 120-year-old-basement.

These summer days and nights make up nearly the entirety of my artistic life. This is when I do my work. The inspiration found in these halcyon days is unmatched.  The setting, cast of characters, and complex family dynamics are richer than anything I have found in the outside world. During these few months I am more artistically productive than at any other time of the year. It is with this creative excitement that I build the foundation of everything I will produce over the next ten months. The rest of the year is spent bent over chemistry in the darkroom, and over a light table editing my negatives -- the fruits of my summer labors.

However, due to financial limitations, my annual period of artistic generation may not happen. The realities of being a freelance photographer in New York City will require me to expend these precious creative hours on the mundane tasks necessary for existence.

This is why I need your help. This campaign is designed to take this body of work to the next level, by magnifing my productivity and funding the months of July and August exclusively photographing in New Hampshire. I am asking for the minimal funds I need to travel to New Hampshire as well as the materials and resources required to produce the photographs, make final prints and prepare the work for exhibition.

Your contributions will provide nothing less than a year's worth of creative work that may not otherwise happen. Anything you can give will be appreciated more than you know. Please take a look at all the levels of support and the great rewards available. Most are exhibition quality, silver gelatin prints, with some extras here and there. As you may know, Kickstarter requires we achieve our fund raising goal or the project will not be funded. However, if we happen to reach our goal early, please don’t hesitate to continue to donate, as any surplus will go directly into the project and a potential self-published book.

I am so thankful for your support and your belief in me as an artist. I know that if funded, I will not let you down.  

        - Sumner

What is Kickstarter?

For anyone who has never visited this site before, Kickstarter is a revolutionary funding platform for artist and entrepreneurs.  It takes traditional forms of funding like grants and democratizes them through social networking.  Instead of asking a single foundation or government organization for money, it opens up funding to the larger online community.  It is a platform for creative people to harness the wonders of the digital age to make their dreams come true! 

Simply click the green "Back this Project" button on the right hand side, choose the amount you want to donate, and you will receive the corresponding reward along with my eternal gratitude.