Lightstalkers/November Eleven
2007 Member Letter

Hello all, and happy holidays. We hope it’s all good with you out there, wherever you are, which, as usual, is everywhere.

As you know, we don’t do this often, but we are reaching out to you for support. Since we launched Lightstalkers in 2004, we’ve sent out only one direct letter asking you for contributions, and we’ve been able to hold fast to our goal of keeping the site free of advertising or membership fees.

Lightstalkers remains an all-volunteer project, but the workload has grown tremendously alongside the membership (now over 22,000). The site also serves more than 65,000 unregistered visitors and, at last count, received around 1.4 million page views monthly. The site has established itself as a global network of photographers, journalists, aid workers, and other “unconventional travelers”, as they wander the earth, roaming and reporting from sketchy places. American Photo magazine cited Lightstalkers this year in a feature on innovations in the photography world (thanks to Jay DeFoore for the nod).

Two years ago, we launched November Eleven, a non-profit organization, to oversee Lightstalkers and to provide support for independent media, arts, and humanitarian action. We are a 501(c)3 public charity, and all donations made to November Eleven are tax-deductible. (This is retroactive, and so applies to the generous pioneers who have already donated.)

Donations of any amount are welcome, and essential.

And, since it’s Christmas, we’ve got some gifts to give out too. Some of our members have donated signed copies of their books, and we’ll be passing them on to our donors. Previously, VII’s War, and Michelle Goldberg’s Kingdom Coming went out as thank-you gifts. Our next round includes titles from Ashley Gilbertson, Michael Ackerman, Zalmaï, Moises Saman, Stephen Ferry, Andrew Lichtenstein, Christian Parenti, Ron Haviv, Kai Wiedenhoefer, Q Sakamaki, Kadir van Lohuizen, and Jonas Bendiksen. More are coming in, and will be going back out to our supporters.

Lightstalkers has in many ways defined itself by being open and unpretentious, and by the fact that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. But in 2007, the tragic loss of two of our members reminded us how deadly serious our work can be. Journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi was murdered by Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan. Photographer Dmitry Chebotayev was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Ajmal was 26 years old; Dmitry was 27.

The response from the Lightstalkers community to Ajmal’s murder was overwhelming. Friends and colleagues around the world contributed more than $15K to The Ajmal Fund, administered by November Eleven, which went directly to the families of Ajmal and driver Sayed Agha in Afghanistan. The two men were killed by the Taliban while accompanying an Italian journalist in Helmand province. Ajmal was a close friend to the November Eleven crew. He will be deeply missed. Our thanks to SeenUnseen, the New York Times and the Bubble Lounge for their generous support of this fundraising program. Ajmal’s father sent a message to all the people who made donations and who tried to bring his son home alive: “We thank you for sharing your love, and sharing our pain.”

November Eleven also ran Operation Azra, which raised almost $30,000 to support reconstructive surgery for Azra Latif and other women who have survived acid attacks in Pakistan. The campaign was organized by Lightstalkers member Stephanie Sinclair, with contributions from across the photo community.

Currently, November Eleven is partnering with Gallery FCB in New York to provide an exhibition space for photographs by Iraqi civilians. The exhibition is ongoing, and proceeds of print sales will benefit the Committee to Protect Journalists. Other exhibitions are in the works.

We’d like to thank VII and The Compelling Image for their continuing sponsorship, and Fastback Creative Books, The Bubble Lounge, and Printspace for their support.

We have two member initiatives to mention for 2008: Eric Beecroft is organizing the first Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City, and Andy Levin is launching the MardiGras 360 Degrees event in New Orleans. While we can’t claim any credit for their ideas or hard work, we’re happy to have played a role in sparking other non-profit, DIY efforts, and we wish them all the best. November Eleven will be offering a tuition scholarship to the Foundry Workshop, where an all-star cast of Lightstalkers members have signed on to teach. If you are making a donation to November Eleven, and would like to be considered for the scholarship, please let us know.

In other news, photographer Balazs Gardi and Wide Angle producer Nina Chaudry have joined the Board of Directors at November Eleven. We appreciate their commitment.

We are grateful for all the support we have received from friends and colleagues so far, but we need individual members to do more to keep this thing afloat and take the project farther. Providing our existing services to an ever-growing audience is a challenge, and we have new programs and features that require additional funding to launch.

For those of you who are regular visitors: we don’t have to tell you how unique this experiment is, or how indispensable it has become to people from around the world.

Part safe house, part madhouse, this site has allowed countless participants to network their efforts, support each other’s work, and to inform and educate each other, and the public. In short, it’s served as a staging base for a lot of good work, and there’s far more to do.

Please do your part to help us continue the mission:
http://www.novembereleven.org/support

We can be contacted at support@novembereleven.org with any questions or feedback. Thank you again for your interest and support. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone else who might be interested.