Building The Portfolio

Everything seems to be underway with Kickstarter and it’s begun with a great start. Within the first hour I had two pledges that contributed $500 toward the goal. It was mind boggling to see such quick response. It has given me the confidence to really get this thing going and I now know I am on the right track. Then I woke up this morning to see that I am over half way to the goal with in the first 24 hours.

My process now is to begin to begin building the portfolio I will take with me. You would think this would be an easy process, but making the final choices is far harder than imaginable. There are certain pieces that I feel are essentially me; these become necessary to represent my style. But then the difficult part is filling in the rest of the collection. There are so many other great pieces that I really having a hard whittling my way through the selection. The box contains room for twenty prints. So this has to be the best I have to offer. I will spend the next twenty days of the project showcasing one of the images from the portfolio and talking about my process in creating the image, the story behind the image, and a discussion why I think this particular image is important. Please note many of these images may already have been posted elsewhere in this blog process, so this is the first time since the beginning of this Naked Man Project that anything will be reused. I have chosen to work chronologically through the images, from the beginning of my process to present, trying to choose images that represent each phase or significant event in my evolution. I have actually made lists and have been working on it for some time now and have a pretty good idea where I want this to go though some of those images may change with the process.

Each of the images will go through a new printing process, as though it has never been printed before. I am going to oversee and print the images myself. I have chosen an Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper that has a double weight with a Gloss Finish. I have chosen this paper in particular because it feels and looks like the Ilford paper I loved to print with in the darkroom when I first began this process fourteen years ago. Though the package says gloss, it’s not glossy at all, but has a beautiful sheen to the surface. Several years ago I was creating an exhibition of images that I was hand printing in the darkroom for the show. I realized one of the key negatives had been damaged and all I had to work with was a digital scan. I was able to match the process and the paper exactly and no one could see the difference. The process has improved since then and this is the closest I could find to create the beauty of my original process. I will print each image only 5 times; the first will be a proof, very close to the original, it will be signed on the back and labeled Artist Proof #1, the second will also become a proof, tweaking and making just slight adjustments, it will be signed and labeled Artist Proof #2. These will go to anyone contributing $100 toward this process. I will then reprint each image three more times as final prints. Each of these will be matted on a beautiful 11x14 exhibition white rag board that will be numbered in the creation of 3 full portfolios. The 1st number will go into the final portfolio for France and Italy, the other two I will give away to anyone who contributes $250 toward this project. People making the first pledges will have first choice of the images and number they desire.

So here we go and remember that if I do not make the pledged amount in the next 23 days no one is charged and the project falls through. Here is the link to my Kickstarter project online: THE NAKED MAN PROJECT: IN SEARCH OF EXPOSURE. Please help if you can, even small pledges quickly add up.

VIEW FULL IMAGE: Jeremy #222