An update on The Ypsi Project

Remember how, a year or so ago, I told you about a young photographer here in Ypsi and her ambitious plan to take a portrait of a different person in the City every day for a year? Well, Erica Hampton’s Ypsi Project has taken a few big twists and turns since then, but it seems as though things are finally heading toward some kind of big conclusion. Erica is planning a public showing of about 100 portraits from the collection at the end of May, in what was the old VG Kids customer service office on Michigan Avenue – a space which is now being referred to unofficially as the XVG Gallery. And, she’s just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $2,400 she needs to pay for the printing, mounting, framing, space rental, etc.

If you’ve never been to Kickstarter, follow that link and check it out. It’s really an amazing way to go about raising money for creative endeavors. For this particular project, you can give as little as $1, or as much as $2,500. For that amount, you get a thank you online, an Ypsi Project button, a limited edition Ypsi Project screen printed exhibit flyer, a 40 page softcover photo book, three origami swans made from the Ypsi phone book, two polaroids taken in Ypsi, a 300 page 10×8 softcover book containing all the portraits taken during the project, a signed 16×20 matted print from the exhibition, and a personal weekend-long photo session, regardless of where you might be in the U.S. And, there are about half a dozen different levels of sponsorship between $1 and $2,500, each with their own rewards. Check it out, and pencil in that last weekend of May to see the show.