As a photographer it is important to keep pushing yourself and developing your skills. One way to do this is to take on personal projects that aren’t funded by client commissions. In doing this you can try out new ideas and techniques without the fear of failure. I recently embarked on such a project but it has grown from being a small personal project into something much bigger.
For me to be able to realise the project and make it happen I need to get some funding to pay for the trip and expenses whilst capturing the images. The project is will allow me to create a photobook with fine art images of Rodeo Cowboys and Cowgirls in action and behind the scenes. For a UK photographer that is quite difficult as we don’t have rodeos in our part of the world. I became fascinated with rodeo from afar and have since attended the biggest one day rodeo at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington Texas. That was an amazing experience and has simply intensified my interest in what can only be described as the most amazing sport.
I have been working on the project for some time and have enlisted the support of my friend Skip Cohen who will be writing the foreword for the final photo book. In addition to that I have been in discussions with UK and USA children’s charities who will be the recipient of a percentage of profits from sales one the book. I will announce the two charities in the next week. Further support has been provided by Fujifilm UK and I will be using their amazing cameras for the vast majority of photographs for the project.
The project is really important to me and I hope that it will raise awareness for this incredible sport this side of the pond. The Cowboys and Cowgirls are the most down to earth people you could wish to meet and have time for everyone.
However, it is really important for people to realise that I can only do the project if I get the funding I have set on my Kickstarter campaign. If the project gets to the end date without meeting the target I don’t get a single penny and the project won’t happen. Therefore if you have enjoyed any of the photographs on my blog or on the Facebook page it would be great if you could back the project. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, although the prices are in British Pounds (£) you can pledge Kickstarter will convert the amount to your local currency when the project completes. Additionally it is important to note that the pledged funds are not taken until the campaign ends and if it is successfully funded.
The project can be found at Kickstarter please click the Back This Project Button and pledge what you can from £1 ($1.60) upwards.
Here are some of the promotional images from the project I hoe you enjoy them and help me to make another trip to get enough to make the book happen.