dreams, fantasies, and idealizations….all ethereal in nature….and hardly anything one can grasp or hold onto…yet, this is what i live for and form the basic building blocks for anything i have ever done….the starting point….and what always keep me going…my crazy ideas are usually just that…gone with the wind…however, sometimes and only sometimes , does something come out of it….
Burn Magazine is one year old today….i have no idea if Burn will ever be two! but, i take things one day at a time, one idea at a time, and with a combo of fate and hard work will do all i can to keep this audience driven magazine alive and well…
2009 has been a year of surprises (like the Lucie Award) and born from a “crazy idea” that popped into my head for no apparent reason right from the table where i now write here in Durango, Colorado…yes, Road Trips conceived right here, and Burn first published right here on this date last year….from the very room where my father Alan died peacefully on a snowy Christmas morning with family gathered, and in the house where my mother Maryanna now lives…a room with memories and conversations that speak of the future…of optimism and fulfillment and warmth…in our family, possibility is always the order of the day…
the dummy cover above is such a possibility….well, a bit more than a possibility, and much more of a reality….hard copy….to be published as an on-demand collectors’ print magazine within the next few weeks….Anton Kusters and i are both working to make this happen….again, the above cover is dummy copy…the final edition could be a bit different than what appears above, but this gives you an idea…..yes sure, there will be hurdles as usual…but, while the major print publications are scaling down hard copy production and moving to the net, we have already our presence on the net and will move now towards some hard copy production in both magazine and book formats….
any of you who have followed me from Road Trips days knows that i always start with a dream/idea and do my best to make it come true…some ideas fall by the wayside, but some move forward to reality….you can go back and read right through everything that was being talked about and all that has happened…
for our Burn birthday today, i now announce a $15,000. stipend for the Emerging Photographer Fund grant for 2010 to be awarded to a worthy young photographer….details and deadlines to be announced by early January 2010…Sean Gallagher and Alejandro Chaskielberg have both been recipients in 2008 and 2009…if you track their work and their efforts you will quickly see the grant has been well placed…a jury of peers from our craft will be chosen to pick the EPF recipient 2010 from a selection of 10-20 finalists…
since this time of year is for taking stock and thanking those who have helped, i want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have made financial contributions to either Burn or to the EPF in 2009…each of you will receive a personal letter from me if you have not already…our new contribution button will now include the option for subscription, but of course all is totally voluntary and we will work just as hard for those of you who enjoy Burn as a free option as for those of you who are in a position to kindly contribute….we appreciate you all just being here…Anton and i alone cannot do any more than we are already doing with Burn and your contributions have at helped us to survive if not thrive…
we have two grant writers now working to see if we can receive significant support to not only maintain Burn but allow for payment to photographers…this has been our biggest hurdle and going for this funding is a full time job in and of itself……for us to do this is not so much a problem of sponsorship or grants which may come our way, but a requirement for a full time general manager…
the main thing is this…neither Anton nor i want to drop our life as photographers…we both have major projects going…for Burn to move forward in a significant way with regard to sponsorships and photographer commissions will require a full time full on person to manage these funds and the work flow….we both realized that if even a part of what we are asking for actually came in the door, then our lives as photographers would be over…for Burn to be more than what it is would take full on concentration from a management standpoint, not from a creative one…
the editing and curating and designing of Burn both online and in print can be managed by Anton and me with no interference to our photographic lives, but the one step forward now of managing significant funding is a full time job for someone…i am interviewing for that “someone” now….that someone is a manager, not a photographer…that someone is a biz person, not an artist…
this is of course exactly how we structure the biz side of Magnum…..and that model is a model that works….a model that most likely will include Burn as a part of the upcoming new online presence for Magnum…while Burn obviously features non-Magnum photographers from this audience , Magnum’s overall interest in the development of new talent, education, and the endorsement of a wide variety of authored photography, and the rights of photographers , falls well within the arbiter role that Magnum has played in general for 62 years…my push is for Magnum to be larger than Magnum….our place in history dictates a magnanimous role …
in one year, Burn has made its place on the net…we think we have earned it and we humbly pledge to keep it that way…we are a boutique shop and we will stay a boutique shop….we have zero desire to become something we are not…we simply know we can be better…..the Lucie Award was significant only in that it was an endorsement for an audience driven online publication in a world of print and, more importantly, a bit of merit for our educational imperative….my other awards are packed in cardboard boxes in the attic…unimportant to me….the only one sitting on my mantle is this one…and it does not have my name on it…it is your award….a Burn award…..so, Happy Birthday to you!!
-david alan harvey
Happy Birthday burn.
We are nothing, as a species, without one another for within the arms and hearts and minds and spirits of one another, the visible and the unknown can occur.
to be aware is to understand that we are are joined, through ill and good, through loss and gain, through love and loss, with all and that that begins an intimacy, the intimacy of knowing we are but here for one reason and that is to become aware, the breathe in all that is around and to reach out against the darkness in order to speak and to breathe.
shape yourself to one another…that is all we have…
burn is truly about such a dream.
happy birthday of course to david and anton, to haik whose real birthday it is, and to each and every burnian, loud or silent, visible or not, all to the joining of which ever tick tapes your tock…
all of what is the best for each…
hugs
bob
David: I’m a proud witness of how Burn has evolve in to what it is now. I remember when your blog idea started as personal blog, just to see what would happen. Well something happen for sure: now Burn exist as a so much powerfull comunitie of burnians, loving to share and grown with photography. At least for me Burn and your personal efforts have had a mayor impact in me and my disery to be a better photographer. I have also seen how many people with the same desires have share with other so kindly.
Thanks so much David for all your enourmous compromise, so much beyond anything I have seen.
My best wishes
Jorge
i am interviewing for that “someone” now….that someone is a manager, not a photographer…that someone is a biz person, not an artist…
——————————————————————————————————-
Damn…another job lost..:))
(laughing)
yay :)
DAVID
I read this post with a smile on my face and a heart full of gratitude. Gratitude to you for your magnanimous spirit and untiring effort to move this relatively young art form forward into new and exciting places. Gratitude personally for the privilege of being mentored by you for the past year and a half on “Falling Into Place”, in which time you have taught me more than you will ever know. Gratitude to Anton for his behind-the-scenes work that turned your dream into a reality and helps it continue to evolve day-by-day. Gratitude to this community, Burnians far and wide who have proven in person and online that our world has shrunk to the size of a computer screen while growing to the limitless size of the human heart and mind. Gratitude to all the photographers who have shown us their work on Burn, individuals who use this medium in ways unique to them yet based on what has gone before.
And now you gift us with the coming-into-being of yet another dream: an on-demand print magazine of Burn’s Best. WOW!!! I must admit I thought this dream seemed unlikely to see the light of day anytime soon. Yet you and Anton and unseen others are making it happen. Talk about dreaming BIG!
Happy birthday, dear David, and please thank your mother and father for modeling the will that finds a way to benefit others while staying true to your own vision.
love & hugs
Patricia
Congrats David and Anton! One brilliant year.
Cheers.
-M
Love the magazine idea.
:) Happy birthday for all!
David :)
Big thing!
hat off
Happy Birthday to you all !
May it Burns for years to come !
i hate birthdays….
but for Burn lets make an exception…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4SLSlSmW74
happy b-day mr.president…;)
Great!!!
Thanks to all and happy birthday!!!!
:-)
I don’t care about birthdays, but I love Christmas, and December 21st Xmas enough to be a day to celebrate, so Merry Xmas BURN!
Maybe a BURN resolution for 2010, which David and I (briefly) mentionned in SF: disclosure of all that makes BURN what it is, donation, income, expenses, properties (the loft!!!), management, pro bono or paid if any, as well as a few numbers on readership, but also submissions (which country sends the most, for example).
Happy Birthday to all.
I WANT to THANK MR.HARVEY and his family.
I WANT to THANK ANTON and his family.
I WANT to THANK HAIK and his family.
I WANT to THANK LASSAL and her family.
I WANT to THANK CIVILIANS and their families.
I WANT to THANK the SPONSORS and their families.
I WANT to THANK the READERS and their families.
I WANT to THANK the PHOTOGRAPHERS and their families.
I WANT to THANK MAGNUM and the magnets.
I WANT to THANK the DONORS and their families.
I WANT to THANK SIMONE and her family.
Can I dance now???
oh …I WANT to THANK SPACECOWBOY and NASA and the spirits from above
and the UNIVERSE…
Can I sing now???
happy birthday, burn!
though i have been quiet on this forum, please know that you have been a *huge* inspiration, a catalyst in my fresh photography career.
thank you for being there, and here’s to many, many new birthdays together!
Happy B-Day Burn!
It’s a pleasure to see you growing.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO UHHHHH-SSSSSS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!!!!
What do you think?
AKAKY IRL: Keep your day job, bubba, you’re gonna need it.
Magnum and the Magnets? Are those guys still alive? They score one hit in 1955 and they’ve been milking it to death ever since.
Thank you everyone at Burn!
It’s great to know that young photographers like myself have a place they can always count on for inspiration.
Happy Birthday :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURN !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM SIMONE !!!
http://all.burnians.com/content/simone
so incredibly proud of everyone. David & Anton – you are both amazing! xox to all…
Congratulations to all. Can’t wait for the magazine, can’t wait to see what 2010 brings.
What not to love indeed.
A Very Happy Birthday to Burn and all those who sail in her!
Here’s to many many more :)
Happy Birthday
Happy Solstice
*happy*happy*
x0x
DAH, enjoy the warmth of the fire!
Hey Dave , congratulations to you all here , It was a road trip and a half in Bangkok and looking forward to giving the man a hand if you need anything from down my way.
Cheers Mate , Enjoy the warmth of your family and the warmth of our regard!
Happy Birthday burn,
It’s amazing what has evolved out of David’s little blog Road Trips.
Way beyond anything the mind could imagine.
Congratulations to David, Anton and all burnians.
Party on!
good stuff david n anton TG..
have a peaceful season and keep that fire roaring.
d
Happy Burnday to the creators and curators, and all the characters who make this such a cool place :)
Well done for “Burnians” everybody – splendid stuff.
Peaceful solstice and holidays to all. Creative times, every success, and all good things for 2010.
happy birthday BURN
congratulations David and Anton
great ideas and realization, and im sure even more is ahead.
David, it is just so great to see so many people around
the world so excited about the same thing – BURN.
Who knows what the future will hold, but with all these great people
involved how can it be anything but good ?
In a year when surviving as a photographer has proven to be a struggle, having the community of Burn
has been a gift beyond compare.
Thanks Mate
Congratulations David and Anton, Happy Birthday Burn. I have been inspired, awed, moved, excited and in eager anticipation with each new essay published. Someone needs to create a Burn app so I can easily see essays on my iPhone. David…I haven’t received Yalda’s print yet. No worries and no rush. Where do I sign up for the print copy of the magazine?
All the best and looking forward to many more years ahead.
Print Copy…???
Do you do Greece too??? Can I be Fed-ex or USPS …something…???
oime…VIVA MATES !!!…!!!…!!!
HEY ALL
thanks for all the kind words… and yes, if it weren’t for this sense of community, i would have never been doing this in the first place.
—
yesterday i was so dog gone tired that i couldn’t do anything but go to bed. It was an amazing year. and we have amazing years to come. given the fact that we are a small operation, i think what we already have achieved is “quite good” to say the least… and knowing that there’s so much stuff in store in the near future, to me that’s a sign that we must be doing something right :-)
sure, we make mistakes… sure we make wrong decisions… but luckily, up until now, and hopefully way out into the future, the good decisions still outweigh by a big margin.
—
especially the donations make me humble. they make me have a sense of responsibility that what we are doing here should not be taken lightly.
—
and yes, i know i’m first and foremost a photographer…. i know i should be devoting the same kind of energy to my personal career as i am doing to BURN… besides shooting the Yakuza (hmm what a weird expression that is :-) i have not put one single minute into my own career in the past twelve months. all you businessmen out there will now cringe because they know what that means… because we all know that real, actual “shooting” only amounts to about 1-5% of the whole realm of being a photographer… maybe even less.
i have no archive except my hard disk, i have never completed the process of making archival prints with my lab, i have not finished setting up my photoshelter archive properly, i have not even come close to building my own website as i envision it, i have no business cards (well, only a few), no letterhead, i have a space that is supposed to be a studio but is not set up yet… i have no time to sensor clean my camera, grease clean my lenses, no time to look through the x images and x video shots that i have of my various projects, i have about 15 notebooks ready to be filled with ideas, i have no business plan, let alone a marketing plan, half-finished mood boards and magazine tearouts all over the place, books i bought i should be reading, and talks with potential investors and patrons all the time that amount to nothing because of my own lack of time for follow up.
—
in writing this just now, i guess i found the reason: this adventure is my chance to make a difference, however small, to something bigger than just “taking care of me, myself and i”.
what not to love………….
hugs to you all, really.
anton
Ah…my A’ boy…VIVA !!!
AttaBoy…
Mate , all this that you are taking care of…will take care of you!
PS for the record , I am just getting to scanning film that I shot a year ago so don’t feel bad!
You won’t catch much
by jumping
up and down on the
beach
shouting
Hey fish come here!
said the gecko
IMANTS…I could not agree more…the cat ate the fish…:)))
PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
AKAKY,
where the Heck …do you live ???
I guess I shouldn’t expect a visit from you …very soon…:)))
IRL civilian …Do as AKAKY…save the planet !!!
P.S the cat ate the fish and the gecko…
ANTON… keeping Shooting …whatever the name …keep shooting…
PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
FRANK…
the Yalda print is being sent to her to sign..one of the problems we had in the gallery was that so many of the prints were unsigned…since we made the print for her, this was the case…please be patient..as soon as Yalda signs, the print will be sent directly to you…again, thanks from us and i know Yalda is very excited….
good idea for the iphone app suggestion…several have mentioned it recently….
cheers, david
ANTON…
for all those reasons you mentioned, your work description at Burn will be altered in the coming year…your photography MUST come first….laughing hysterically…i have done none of the things you wrote about either, and until i read your last missive i had totally forgotten that i had forgotten to take care of all those things too!! the difference of course is that you are starting your career…you need to get Yakuza done in good style and into book form….and both of us need business cards!!
in all seriousness, i see you as one of the photographers i must mentor most..i have a great responsibility to you and i will not let you down…just as we both feel the incredible sense of responsibility from donors, i feel this for you…i do have confidence that Burn, despite all of the time you have put into it, will end up on your creative bio as one of the high points in your life…i will make sure of it…
hey, the shortest day of the year is over…days now start getting longer…more light…do we see any at the end of this long tunnel?? sure we do…if we are not having fun with Burn , then i say let’s get back to Puerto Escondido immediately….and surely our meetings should be there…think we can set up a donate button for folks to contribute to an annual beach bash in Puerto?? hmmmmmmm, just thinking…
many thanks always amigo, for without friendship none of this would have happened…
cheers, abrazos, david
Brilliant concept, brilliant vision, brilliant dedication, brilliant determination, brilliant resolve……..Just brilliant.
All whilst trying to run successfull careers as photographers, three cheers for the team who have made burn happen (the burn readership will always be indebted to you as move on to concentrating on your own careers.)…. and hopes to the future of appointing a successfull team for it to continue the success of Burn.
Anyway off to collect MUM from the train station….
Seasons greetings all
Ian
i don’t know any of you but you’re some of the nicest people i don’t know.
and i can see why everyone is so smitten with david and anton, two incredibly generous people.
*crushes*
:)
And happy christmas everyone x
HAIK…
december 21 your real birthday??? i totally missed that one…so, Happy Birthday to you!! i do hope we can skype today…at your convenience…does your wife know you have taken on this additional responsibility?? i do not want your wife mad at ME…..please , please take good care of your family first….
cheers, david
December 21 turned into an insane day for me and in fact it is now 3:20 AM December 22 and I am still going at an insane pace – having gotten up early yesterday.
So I am late here – but I did wish Burn happy birthday on the Lassal – Haik post.
I am quite certain Burn will have a second birthday – and many beyond that.
It some ways, it unnerves me to see you adding on a new job – but it must be a good thing, to have to pay money to someone to manage your money. That means you are doing something financially, as well as artistically.