I’ve promoted several crowd funding projects here and through other social media because I believe we should support each other when the idea is strong. I always put my money where my mouth is, so here are a couple I think are important, albeit very different.

First up is Ed Kashi’s  “Island of Widows” project to photograph and document the “true cost of sugar,” the fatal, chronic kidney disease suffered by Nicaraguan sugarcane workers.

As Ed himself notes, “In Nicaragua, which exports 40% of its sugar to America, the average life span of men who harvest sugar cane is 49 years. At the root of these early deaths is an epidemic of fatal Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu). In the town Chichigalpa, often called the “Island of Widows,” 1-in-3 men, mostly cane workers, are in end-stage renal failure. This fatal disease is not only a public health crisis, but also a social injustice. The cause of this epidemic is unknown, which is why we are launching this documentary project.”

 

If you don’t know the work of Ed Kashi, it’s time you get acquainted with one of the most important documentary photographers working today and a lovely man.

MOSSLESS, is a magazine project from Romke Hoogwaerts and Grace Leigh. I supported issue #1, which after delay, was eventually delivered in-person on bicycle by Romke. Talk about person-to-person communication!

This time they’re thinking even grander grander, with Issue 3: The United States (2003-2013). The plan is to publish 550 photographs from over 100 American photographers. I would say this will be the largest compendium of independent American photography yet. They plan to not only share profits with all the photographers included, but declare, “If you back this project, not only are you supporting the creation of an anthology of new American photography, you will also be supporting a new concept in publishing’s relation to the internet, as well as an independent publishing model that supports its artists fairly.”

That works for me.