Emphas.is kicked off its website last month and appears to be on its way to great success. The site accepts project proposals from visual journalists and invites “backers” to sign up to support the project of their choice for as little as $10. This enables important photo projects to be funded that might otherwise find difficulty obtaining mainstream backing for any number of reasons. Projects have to meet strict criteria, and are completely transparent — photographers see exactly why or why they were not funded and backers get to interact with the photographers and view progress.
One such project, undertaken by the internationally-recognized photojournalist, Tomas Van Houtryve, amassed even more than his targeted goal within a few days, drawing the support of some 127 backers. You can find more about his story on his own site, on the Emphasis.is site, on the A Photo Editor site or TVH’s Facebook page.