Spotlight on crowdfunding: Zmâla, A Curious Eye

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Zmâla is three years old. The annual, bilingual publication is a cross between a magazine and a book, publishing the work of photography collectives, who often fund Zmâla themselves. But now, they are looking for outside funding

Author: Olivier Laurent

"The first three issues of Zmâla, A Curious Eye were partly financed by the photographers' collectives themselves, who pre-purchased a certain quantity of copies," says Camille Plante of Zmâla. "For issue #4, the Zmâla team decided to change this system, to free the photographers from this constraint and to gain more editorial freedom."

After three years, she adds, the review is well-known on the "mook" market, receiving consideration from the media and bookstores, "and is accessible to an always larger public. Nonetheless, although it is produced by professionals and despite a constant search of financial partners, the review doesn't yet generate profits, which means that the team works mostly on a voluntary basis. "

To change this, Zmâla has turned to Emphas.is, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to photojournalism and documentary projects. "This a way for the team to guarantee its printing costs and, hopefully, to allow it to be best known on the English-speaking market: Zmâla, A Curious Eye is totally bilingual in English and will be distributed abroad."

Issue #4 represents a turning point for Zmâla, as far as financing and distribution are concerned. "In parallel to the review itself, Zmâla also proposes exhibitions, events and partnerships. After a first exhibition produced by the Zoom Festival in Chicoutimi, Quebec, in November 2011, Zmâla will present five subjects from issue #4 produced by the first edition of the Rencontres photographiques de Guyane (Photographic Encounters of Guyana) next July - an exhibition which will most likely then travel to Visa pour l'image in Perpignan in September, then to Greece and to Belgium."

Zmâla's goal is to raise $13,000 within the next 20 days. For more details and to help, visit Zmâla's Emphas.is page.

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