Not too long ago, I was asked by a member on Etsy to join a collective of political and social artists/activists called Making Change. Being the progressive that I am, I was highly interested and eventually joined the collective. That said, I'm quite political. Not overtly in the sense that I'm preachy. I know of some people who are political to the point that their views come off as elitest and preachy. I'm no better than you and I'm just trying to find ways to make the world a better place.
As far as my work goes, I have done some political, progressive oriented works. Mostly photojournalist in style by documenting various political rallies and/or street photography but that's as far as my work goes politically. So far...
Even then, said work isn't much. I don't do much street work as I used to and I don't do as much street work as I would like to and even living in a lively city such as Los Angeles, political rallies and protests are few and far between.
A lingering yearning to make more of a difference has been on my mind as of late which is why I joined such a collective as Making Change but I still would like to do more. It dawned on me recently that one effective way I can start to make some semblance of a change is to utilize the sales of my photographic prints and separate a portion of the sales to go towards donations to a cause I'm interested in helping out. So I've decided that effective today, 25% of all sales I make from selling my prints, by way of my Etsy shop, any future online stores I open, and private dealings, will go towards UNICEF's US General Fund.
Why UNICEF? For one, it is a non-partisan group. Two, and most importantly, it goes towards helping children. It is my firm belief that the path to a better future for our species and civilization lies with children. I think it's fair to say that we're very fortunate to be living in modern, industrialized nations such as the US, England, France etc. Despite the problems within said countries respectively, our kids don't have to worry about whether or not the water they drink is clean, that is, if they are able to get water from the start. They don't have to worry about getting a good and proper education (the American education system is debatable and is rather on "par" but that whole subject is another story...). Millions of kids living in developing countries suffer from malnutrition, lack of clean water, lack of education and various other problems that need solving. As fortunate as we are, I think we need to do more to solve such issues for children less fortunate. As fortunate as I am, I feel I need to do my part.
Regardless of whether or not you or anyone ends up buying one of my prints, I ask that you visit UNICEF's site and make a contribution of your own if you can. It doesn't even have to be UNICEF. That's my cause. If you have a cause of your own that you wish to contribute to, please do so. Breast cancer research, HIV/AIDS research, world hunger, Red Cross disaster relief funds, whatever your choice may be, make that contribution.
I apologize for the last couple of sentences as they are rather preachy but I hope for it to be taken as the good kind of preachy. Obligatory...
As far as my work goes, I have done some political, progressive oriented works. Mostly photojournalist in style by documenting various political rallies and/or street photography but that's as far as my work goes politically. So far...
Even then, said work isn't much. I don't do much street work as I used to and I don't do as much street work as I would like to and even living in a lively city such as Los Angeles, political rallies and protests are few and far between.
A lingering yearning to make more of a difference has been on my mind as of late which is why I joined such a collective as Making Change but I still would like to do more. It dawned on me recently that one effective way I can start to make some semblance of a change is to utilize the sales of my photographic prints and separate a portion of the sales to go towards donations to a cause I'm interested in helping out. So I've decided that effective today, 25% of all sales I make from selling my prints, by way of my Etsy shop, any future online stores I open, and private dealings, will go towards UNICEF's US General Fund.
Why UNICEF? For one, it is a non-partisan group. Two, and most importantly, it goes towards helping children. It is my firm belief that the path to a better future for our species and civilization lies with children. I think it's fair to say that we're very fortunate to be living in modern, industrialized nations such as the US, England, France etc. Despite the problems within said countries respectively, our kids don't have to worry about whether or not the water they drink is clean, that is, if they are able to get water from the start. They don't have to worry about getting a good and proper education (the American education system is debatable and is rather on "par" but that whole subject is another story...). Millions of kids living in developing countries suffer from malnutrition, lack of clean water, lack of education and various other problems that need solving. As fortunate as we are, I think we need to do more to solve such issues for children less fortunate. As fortunate as I am, I feel I need to do my part.
Regardless of whether or not you or anyone ends up buying one of my prints, I ask that you visit UNICEF's site and make a contribution of your own if you can. It doesn't even have to be UNICEF. That's my cause. If you have a cause of your own that you wish to contribute to, please do so. Breast cancer research, HIV/AIDS research, world hunger, Red Cross disaster relief funds, whatever your choice may be, make that contribution.
I apologize for the last couple of sentences as they are rather preachy but I hope for it to be taken as the good kind of preachy. Obligatory...