I am now fundraising for Kosmo Foto through the crowd-funding site Patreon.
When this blog began life in 2012 (as Zorki Photo) it was mostly as a platform to talk about my own photography and write about some of the cameras in my collection. I thought it might be a nice way to drive people toward my Flickr, where my thousands of film photographs lived.
Six years later, and Kosmo Foto has become something much more ambitious: a site that’s looking at the rebirth of film photography around the world – and taken an active part in it too.
Kosmo Foto publishes some of my personal photography, but also film and camera reviews, stories on analogue photography history, news stories, trend pieces, and long-form features (this piece from early 2017 has been read nearly 50,000 times).
It’s now the hub for a new photography community based around my first film, Kosmo Foto Mono, where the photographers who use the film can show off their work.
In recent months, I’ve created new strands like Kosmopedia, where I’ll profile interesting camera (and not necessarily ones I’ve owned either) and written more long-form features and interviews looking at the state of analogue photography in the 21st Century, and some of the people who are helping fuel this renaissance.
All this requires a sizeable outlay for themes, the support, hosting, SSL certificates, and purchase of stock photos for the occasional piece; it ends up being several hundreds of pounds a year.
I want to make sure the blog pays for itself without putting my posts behind a paywall. I got into film photography around the year 2000, when there was already a lot of content online. Tips, tricks, photographs, user reviews, interviews, historical articles… all helped me indulge this passion. So I’d like to make sure my posts are free to read for everyone around the world, not just those that can afford a monthly subscription fee.
I’d like to get to the point where there are 15 to 20 posts a month on Kosmo Foto, and eventually to have some other writers adding their perspective. As a working journalist for more than 25 years, I don’t want those people to do it for nothing.
There are a range of pledges you can sign up to, from only $1 a month up to $25. And there are various things up for grabs.
The funds from this Patreon could help in several ways:
- They’ll pay for the site’s upkeep on my web provider
- They’ll allow me to commission other writers to write pieces for Kosmo Foto
- They’ll help pay for graphics for special features over the course of the year
- They’ll help with the cost of processing films for user reviews of cameras for the site
I’ve been a journalist for over 25 years, and I love this new stage in my life writing about photography, film cameras and the rebirth of this wonderful medium as it finds new life in the 21st Century. I really appreciate any help from readers and fellow film fans.
Patreon already features fund-raising initiatives from several photography blogs I follow (such as Casual Photophile, 35mmc and Emulsive) and it seems a really good model – allowing people to have a stake in the blog without the posts disappearing from public view.
Thanks to everyone for reading this, and a hearty cheers to all of those who sign up. Every dollar helps.
Thanks
Stephen Dowling
Kosmo Foto
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
I would happily write for you and the cause. Always loved your zorki feed.