Keep The Circuit running
My company The Circuit Climbing has brought competition climbing content to the masses since 2013. Over that time I quit my previous job, moved out of my apartment and sacrificed a normal life to chase my dream of capturing the best competition climbers in action and sharing their stories with the world.
Over that time I've gone through several camera bodies, lenses, hard drives etc. I've slept on more couches than I can count, on airport floors, even in the back of climbing gyms.
I do it because I love it. There are sacrifices I'm willing to make to document our sport, thats the nature of the game. It's worth it to give climbers and climbing fans content that will keep them psyched, keep their passion stoked. And knowing that these climbers will have all the photos to reflect on their time in the sport once they move on is important to me.
Over the last 5 years I've always allowed the climbers access to photos of themselves, it's my thank you for letting me into their world. However it's not a survivable business model, especially as so many brands reuse the photos and I seldom see a cent.
So for 2018 I'm turning to the community. asking you guys if you'd be willing to chip in to keep the dream alive, to keep me on the road documenting the sport we love. I'm very short on funds now, which makes it tough to plan, to book, to eat even sometimes.
Each year it cost's approximately €10000 in airfares, hotels, airbnb's, rental cars, trains, buses, visa's etc just to cover the competitions. And of course, there's surviving between all the competitions! So I set a target of €20000 which with other income from my photos and writing will allow me not only to keep The Circuit going, but to improve it for the future!
As you can see, the brand (who will remain nameless but are a major player in the industry) expects the climber to provide them with FREE photos for their commercial use!
You ask why it can be so tough to survive in this industry? When leading brands expect free content, and sucker climbers into contracts which contain shit such as this?
Five photos shot commercially is not cheap. realistically if the climber were to pay myself or another professional photographer for five images it would exceed the value of the whole contract this climber is being offered!
Do you think Nike asked Michael Jordan to provide photos of himself free of charge?
So, if you are a sponsored climber, check your contract, and if it asks for this, next time you go to sign say NO. That they will need to arrange the taking of any photos for commercial use!
Ok, thats my little rant for the day.
Please consider giving a little to the gofundme to keep me on the road. I'm very appreciative of the response so far but theres a long way to go!
