Hey! I started this project two weeks ago, I have been exploring the tool and the limitations, and I think it's time for a quick introduction.
If you are here, you may know me already. In case you don't, I'm Sergio and I've been making photos for decades now. I used to accept comercial commissions, but it's not the work that fills me with joy. So I stopped, and for a few years and didn't make any income from photography.
I do enjoy when my photography takes me to places I have never been, or connects me to people that wouldn't have access to in my daily life. Most of the people that changed the way I think, I found them by photography. Many of them are dancers, models or artists that share my thoughts: they love their practice when it grows from within. Not when they are commissioned to work for others.
So... I started to think: how can we support our work? Is there a way to collaborate in a sustainable way so everyone gets fairly paid? And this is why we are all here.
Ok, but how?
I am not 100% sure to be honest. We are exploring and building this site as we go. I said we as models are also part of this project. We decided to follow a subscription model because we don't want to sell sets. Sets are for a specific type of content, and we want to build a relationship with you. We expect you all to share our journey.
What content is going to be published here?
This is the key question. I have been considering what this site is about for a few weeks. What can I contribute to the world of photography? What content may have an space? I am not an influencer, I don't shoot commercially, I don't review cameras or film. I like different types of photography, but I don't enjoy street photography. It seems that I don't fit in the content that is normally consumed.
Ok. What do I love to do? People and model photography. Experimenting. Trying new things. But always with people. So this is it. This will be this page about: how to connect with people through photography. There are tons of videos on Youtube about shooting with models. How many of them focus on the person they are shooting?
How is this built?
On top of Ghost. In order to make explanations simpler, let's say Ghost is a modern Wordpress, open source, which has subscriptions in their core. In my opinion, a direct competitor of Squarespace but more opinionated in how to build sites. I have another site on Squarespace, but I decided to give Ghost a try as the content is not locked in their platform: I can export my content and publish the site running my own Ghost. I want to support this kind of projects.
Why not Patreon?
I wanted to have full control of my content, and I wanted to build my own site. I acknowledge that Patreon may seem more secure, in terms of payments, but all subscriptions in Ghost are handled by Stripe. We don't see any credit card number, and those are great news for you and me.
How secure is my credit card here?
100%, as I don't handle any payment. Stripe does. If you are located in Spain, Stripe is similar to Redsys but worldwide: they handle payments almost everywhere.
I don't see any credit card number or name in those cards. Everything is protected in Stripe, and you can cancel the subscription directly in Stripe.
Why English?
Another good question. My native language is Spanish, and you will notice that by my typos and expressions. Most of my current audience is or speaks Spanish. But I want my audience to be global, and to do that I need this site in English. I might write in Spanish too, and of course you can contact me in that language.
In any case, you can still find me in Spanish in Vemödalen.
What about nudes?
There will be, but if you are here just for this, maybe this is not your site.
We enjoy that kind of photography, we believe is beautiful, and enables us to connect in deeper ways. We acknowledge that it might be misunderstood as erotic or porn.
There are also people that trusted me with these photos. Maybe, it was their first session or they don't work professionally as a model. All these people are fine with sharing these photos here, but I worried that letting that content run freely on the Internet may affect them in the future. So that's the reason most of that content will be under a paywall.
There will be contradictions. I am aware. Photography is not an easy world these days, and we want an honest way to support our work. This is the way we found.
Want to know more? Read our manifesto.