1. What is “Portraits for Pixels”?
“Portraits for Pixels” is a collaborative campaign with photographers worldwide to raise funds to keep The Pixel Project’s campaigns and programmes alive and running.
During the “Portrait for Pixels” campaign, participating professional photographers will put on special “Portrait for Pixels” charity portrait sessions in their community/town/city.
Photographers will then donate either a portion or all of the proceeds from the sessions to The Pixel Project.
2. Who does the funds raised from “Portraits for Pixels” benefit?
“Portraits for Pixels” raises funds to help keep The Pixel Project’s anti-Violence Against Women campaigns and programmes running.
Find out how the funds raised will be used here.
3. Why work with photographers? What is the connection between The Pixel Project and photography?
Portrait photography is at the heart of our flagship, soon-to-be launched Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign.
Indeed, the exclusive portraits of our 4 mystery Celebrity Male Role Models that a global audience are invited to reveal through pixel donations are courtesy of award-winning international photographer Jillian Edelstein who is The Pixel Project’s principal photographer. Jillian’s work includes the iconic Nelson Mandela portrait for the cover of the New York Times magazine.
It is only fitting that photography becomes one of the mainstays of our campaigns.
4. Who is eligible for participating in “Portraits for Pixels”?
Any professional portrait photographer or professional photographer is eligible to participate in the campaign.
5. How do I participate in “Portraits for Pixels”?
You can participate in “Portraits for Pixels” in 3 easy steps:
Step 1: Decide how much you are going to donate from your “Portraits for Pixels” session and register to participate here.
Step 2: Hold your “Portraits for Pixels” sessions. For some ideas, go here.
Step 3: Donate the funds raised from your “Portraits for Pixels” session.
6. What benefits do I get from participating in “Portraits for Pixels”?
Here are the benefits for the participating photographers:
Benefit 1: Online Publicity
a) A host of campaign microsite features to help raise the profile of participating photographers:
Individual Gallery Pages: We provide an individual gallery page for each participating photographer to showcase a select portfolio of their work, their bio and the link to their website.
Listings: We will compile a listings page bringing together “Portraits for Pixels” session details of all “Portraits for Pixels” sessions.
Featured Photographer Interviews: Throughout the event, we will publish interviews with some of the participating photographers who have done previous anti-VAW or charitable work so it ties in strongly with our work. If you wish to be interviewed, please contact us here.
Post-Event Highlights: Participating photographers will be encouraged to submit a selection of the best portraits taken during the campaign to be included in the “Portraits for Pixels” online gallery.
b) Social Media Exposure
We will share news, interviews and microsite pages through our social media channels (Facebook and Twitter) and our main blog throughout the campaign.
We provide everything from website banners to Twitter avatars for your use to tag yourself as a “Portraits for Pixels” photographer.
Benefit 2: Extra Earnings
Participating photographers set the price for the charity photo shoots. We ask for a percentage of the fees photographers charge for the special charity offer.
Indeed, photographers can choose to donate as little as $10 from the fees charged for each portrait session.
7. How does the fundraising work?
We ask for a minimum contribution of US$10 per portrait session from each participating photographer. For example: A photographer may hold 25 portrait sessions featuring 25 different clients, resulting in a donation of US$250 to us.
The funds raised will go directly to our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign that aims to raise US$1 million for NCADV and WAO.
8. Why is the minimum contribution US$10 per portrait session? Why not ask for 50% or 100% of the proceeds?
We understand that photographers have to earn a living from their work and that many photographers earn in currencies that are weaker than the US Dollar.
Therefore, we set US$10 as the minimum contribution because we want this programme to be a genuinely accessible and win-win collaboration with photographers. US$10 as a minimum will ensure that photographers will also be able to cover the expenses for the special “Portraits for Pixels” sessions at the very least.
Of course, photographers are welcome and encouraged to contribute more than US$10 per portrait session if their market price allow them to do so.
9. I would like to donate more than US$10 per portrait session. Is this possible?
Yes. You can choose to donate up to 100% of your portrait session proceeds.
Just state the amount per photo session you wish to donate per portrait session in the registration form.
10. I would like to donate less than US$10 per portrait session. Is this possible?
No. We have carefully set US$10 as the lowest contribution amount for the following reasons:
- The Win-Win Principle: US$10 is a small enough portion of most professional portrait session fees that allows photographers a more-than-fair deal while providing us with a decent amount of funds raised.
- Accommodating international currency differentials to keep participation in the campaign a more-than-fair deal for photographers in countries where the currency is smaller or weaker than the US Dollar.
11. Aside from donating some of the proceeds of the “Portraits for Pixels” portrait sessions to the Pixel Reveal campaign, I would like to donate the remainder or a portion of the remainder to a local nonprofit/charity of my choice. Is this possible?
Yes, you can.
However, because this is an anti-violence against women fundraiser, we ask that you choose to donate to your local nonprofit/charity working in this sector.
Nonprofits in this sector include:
- Battered women’s shelters
- Rape crisis centres
- Anti-Female Genital Mutilation advocacy organisations
- Women’s centres providing trauma counselling for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence trauma.
- Local domestic violence/rape crisis hotlines
12. I belong to a group/community of photographers. Can we participate as a group?
Yes, definitely. Just appoint a representative to organise a local “Portraits for Pixels” drive and indicate his or her details in the registration form.
13. I have a full schedule for August and September. May I participate after the closing date of the campaign?
Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate this request.
However, we plan to hold “Portraits for Pixels” twice a year should this pilot programme be successful, so watch out for our announcement about “Portrait for Pixels” dates in 2012.
14. How can else can I help the “Portrait for Pixels” campaign?
There are a couple of simple ways to help:
- The More, The Merrier: Encouraging other photographers to sign up and take part. Organise a group effort if you can!
- Word-of-Mouth: Download our buttons and banners from our Virtual Goodies page and wear it with pride on your website/Facebook page/blog/Twitter account to raise awareness!
