My goal is equal parts genius, ridiculous and insane: to artfully photograph 1000 pugs. In a single year.
The goal of the, uh, goal is to create the ultimate celebration of all things pug, both online and in printed form. Aside from being ridiculously cute, these weird little dogs have the amazing ability to turn ordinary people into complete freaks... and that's definitely something worth celebrating.
Oh, and if you're tempted to stop reading because you don't think you're a pug person - don't. I wasn't always a pug person either.
WHY 1000 PUGS?
Like a lot of great ideas, 1000 Pugs started as a completely random, fleeting moment. A very bored pug I was fostering gnawed on the corner of a book, which just so happened to be a collection of dog photography titled A Thousand Dogs. I remember thinking how awesome it would be to have a book of 1000 pugs...
In the three years since that little pug came along, I've become a successful dog photographer, made a viral pug video, am the human behind a wildly popular pug blog and am a certifiable pug freak. Why shouldn't I photograph 1000 pugs and make my own book?
WHERE AM I GOING TO FIND 1000 PUGS?
Starting this January, I'll begin shooting pugs in 12 cities across the US + Canada. I'm a big believer in recycled dogs, so I teamed up with area pug rescues to help me get the word out.
The first city sold out in less than 10 minutes (go Seattle!) and over 400 pugs signed up to be 1 of 1000 on the very first day. There's already a ton of momentum behind the project and there is absolutely zero doubt the 1k mark will be met.
I'LL SELL A KIDNEY IF I HAVE TO...
I'm putting my life & business on hold for 5-6 months to complete this project and to be fully road-worthy, I'm going to need a few things (very expensive electronic things). A sitting fee will cover my travel costs and a big chunk will be donated to pug rescues. The rest will be eaten up by luxury items like rent, dog food, health insurance and taxes.
I'm too old to 'make bank' selling my eggs and kinda like my kidneys, so I'm hoping kickstarter will help me fill in the money gap so I can get the things I need to make this project awesome.
THE EXPENSIVE ELECTRONIC THINGS
My $9636 kickstarter goal will cover the cost of a Mac laptop, second camera body, additional memory and storage. Yup. That's it. Like I said in the video, this stuff adds up fast.
WARM FUZZY FEELING + OTHER REWARDS
For helping me reach my goal, you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling and some pretty cool stuff. The last pug won't be shot until October and that's way too long to wait for a reward, so you'll be able to score:
- 1000 Pugs t-shirt (choose from 2 designs)
- a full color mini military style dog tag (perfect size for hanging on your pug, keychain or small child?)
- all-access Q&A with yours truly
- a private photoshoot with you and your dog
- one on one photography instruction
And a warm fuzzy feeling for helping me make this project awesome.
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (36 days)