THE STATE OF CURIOUS

By Kenneth Jarecke, Editor in Chief

My Dear Fellow Members,

I would like to thank you for your support of The Curious Society and for your patience you've shown towards me.

It's been a rough year for TCS. The problems we've faced have been trying. As the Founder of our organization and the Editor in Chief of the publication, I take full responsibility for all of our setbacks.

This past December, our second issue was in the can. We were sitting pretty. Hours before we were going to press a computer crashed, we lost our layout and we missed our deadline.

Because the deadline was missed, I returned the money earmarked for printing cost back to the person who had donated it to us. We lost our printing paper as well (about 24,000 pounds worth that was sourced from South Korea during the worldwide shortage).

As you know, our family had some personal problems, right now we feel blessed to have put those behind us.

Bottomline, the momentum created by our first issue and a hugely successful Curious Fest has been lost.

For the past six months we've been working to restart our operation, and I think our efforts will be worth it. During this time, I've met with experts who have given me priceless marketing and business advice, gratis, because they believe in our mission.

The Curious Society needs and deserves to exist. Our industry (and country) needs an alternative market to support the work of independent photojournalists (as there are few media organizations that do so). A strong TCS provides another place for great work to appear, and it also encourages mainstream outlets to up their game.

Competition is good. More eyeballs are better than less. More voices need to be heard.

I don't have an exact timeline, but we will get our second issue (and many more) to press. When that happens, I won't allow anything to steal that momentum away from us again.

We're going to award four new Gad Grants in December just in time for the holidays. I'll let you know when that happens. Young photographers need support and motivation. The Curious Society is designed to deliver both.

We're going to curate, support, and publish great documentary photography. Some of which will be published exclusively online.

We're going to deliver amazing work, on paper, to you, the people who really appreciate it.

We don't go to press because it's easy, convenient or cheap. We do it because it's the best way to deliver a timeless and collectable object that is filled with the kind of images that deserve that kind of presentation.

As we move forward, we're looking for additional corporate support in the form of advertising and sponsorship. If you can help us make helpful connections in this regard, please don't hesitate to contact me.

We also need support from individuals. Please tell your friends about TCS. If you can, show them your copy of issue one. People need to hold it in their hands to really appreciate it.

With that goal in mind, we've got a limited number of our first issue that we are making available for just the cost of shipping.

The more people we reach, the wider our base of support becomes.

Everybody knows somebody and some of these bodies might just be the key to getting the corporate support we need.

Once again, thank you. You and your support are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Jarecke

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