…and why I started it
I’m in the midst of my first ever Kickstarter project. And wow, talk about a learning experience.
But before I share what I’ve learned at this halfway point, let me explain a little about the project and why it’s near and dear to my heart.
Showcasing the portraits of 25 interracial Bay Area couples
Swirl, is a portrait photography project to showcase the relationships of interracial couples. I live in Oakland, CA and unlike many of the places I’ve been in the US, this is a crazy diverse area. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years at this point and talk about a melting pot. People from all over the world have settled here, grown up here, fallen in love, raised their children and lived their lives here. I have a diverse mix of friends. My immediate peeps are a crayola box of colors and include Taiwanese, Indian, white, black, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Bosnian, Ethiopian, Chinese …the list goes on. And I LOVE it. One of the reasons I don’t know if I can live anywhere else is that so many places don’t have the diversity that you find here.
I’m a black girl myself and along with having a diverse group of friends, I have pretty much always dated outside of my race. It’s just what I’m attracted to. I grew up on the east coast and overseas before settling in CA and other than my father and brother, I honestly wasn’t around many black men. I think in third grade I had my first big crush and you guessed it, it was a white boy, lol. I’ve dated guys from many backgrounds but am primarily attracted to white men.
I met my boyfriend and love f my life on the online site, Craigslist, a little over 4 years ago and we’ve been together ever since. We have three crazy cats that are our children, and just bought a house. We’re talking about getting engaged this year and are already scoping out cool travel spots to honeymoon at, lol.
As we’ve been together and looked at our other friends, I started to notice just how many other couples here are in interracial relationships as well. It’s been increasing greatly over the past 10 years or so and it’s such a beautiful thing to see.
A few months ago, I started talking with a few writers who specialize in IR books (my friend got me hooked), and I heard them complaining that there were a lack of good images of interracial couples online. Evidently it’s hard to get models to pose with other races in sexy ways (who knew?!) and there are only a few professional who do it often. You’ll notice that a lot of romance covers that feature interracial relationships use the same images and the same models. This was the catalyst that made me start taking not of images and interracial couples.
I’m a portrait photographer and with my own interest in interracial relationships, I realized that I could capture gorgeous images of real couples, interracial couples, in a professional gorgeous way. And what better way to showcase them than in a professional, full color photo book. All races, all backgrounds, all ages, all sexual orientations…just beautiful loving couples that have found love outside of their own race. And hence, the Swirl Project was born 🙂 I think it’s important to show that love really does cross borders and everyone should and can love regardless of the other’s race.
I wanted to give you a bit of insight on why this project is important to me and why I’m doing it. Tomorrow I’ll write a bit on what I’ve learned from this Kickstarter experience.
Thanks so much for reading! And if you are interested in this project please help me reach my goal! As of today I’m at 12% funding but I’m going to keep it up! Any and all donations will help!
Click the link to see all the details and to support the Swirl Project
~Laquel