Last month I wrote a post about the process of making a couple of Photography Zines. I decided to put the two zines on sale to the public, something I haven’t done with my work in a long time, and as my way of doing something positive, donate any profits before the end of this month – June 2020 – to the charity Cáritas here in Spain.
You can order yours here if interested: https://www.blurb.es/user/OwainShaw
I’m not a big name in Photography, nor do I have a big online following, so I was always aware that my sales would be limited – probably to friends and family – but it’s nice to know that any copies which do sell are doing a little bit of good.
I often, probably too often, wonder about what my photography really brings to the world, with the conclusions generally not being very positive but in this case there’s a tangible, quantifiable benefit in terms of money raised for a good cause. Sales in May meant I was able to donate 236€ earlier this month.
There’s still another eleven days (at time of writing) until the end of the month, and hopefully a few more will sell before then to add to this month’s total.
I’ve been less active in promoting the sale this month which has perhaps affected sales but I’ve been spending less time on social media generally, and I feel awkward promoting something – even if it is for a good cause, and without any direct benefit to myself (except that I ‘get to feel good’ … no selfless good deed, no true altruism and all that) – at this time, and with other good causes in need of promotion I haven’t wanted to carry on my own.
In any case, however many copies eventually sell, a good thing has been done and money has been raised for those in need, and these are positives worth celebrating, especially in times like these.
If anyone reading this wants to do their bit – or wants to donate to any of the many other worthy causes out there – then that’s wonderful too! I hope to sell a few more copies before the end of the month, but whatever the total number, I’ll be happy when I get to click the donate button.
Thanks for reading – stay safe, stay well.
Owain Shaw 
I just bought your Segorbe book. I very much enjoyed looking at the photos in the preview. You did some very good work.
I think there’s nothing wrong, and everything right, with doing some work that brings people some pleasure, gives them some insight into a subject that interests you, and is physical so that it can be kept.
Hello Jim,
That’s fantastic, and it means a lot to me that you bought a copy – thank you! I really hope you enjoy the book when it arrives, and I’m excited to be able to donate a bit extra this month. Really, thank you so much!
Extra reply – I just wanted to say again that it does mean a lot that you decided to purchase a book. I expected to mostly sell to friends and family – and that’s great, of course, to have friends and family support my work and say ‘I like what you do’ but it’s also really nice to have a person I’ve not met decide that they like the work enough to purchase a copy. Thank you once again, Jim.
It’s my pleasure. You do good work and it has value.
Great work Owain! It means a lot when you finalise your photo project and do a physical print and means even more if you donate the profit like you do. Hats off.
Hello Yuri,
Thanks a lot. Yeah, I definitely appreciate both projects more since printing them than I did before – it’s left me with a much more complete feeling than when they still lived in the computer. With the donations I just thought … if I’m going to make them, why not make them available and maybe raise some money for a good cause?