The Kickstarter campaign for ‘Scattering’ is 17% funded with 13 days to go. Please pledge and share if you can manage!

A quick Q and A with some frequent questions I’ve been asked about the project.

You can pledge here—> ‘Scattering’ Kickstarter

‘Scattering’ is a limited edition photography book about crow feeding rituals on Jeju Island in South Korea. As part of their shamanic faith residents of Jeju Island leave portions of food for scavenging animals, especially crows. ‘Scattering’ explores ritualistic bird-feeding in South Korea and its profound implications.

How did you track the crows? Isn’t that impossible without tagging?

The crows involved in the shamanic rituals in this region of Jeju are resident crows. Each group of this species controls a territory that spans likely about 10 kilometers. They stay put pretty much with a little turnover with young crows leaving the group and some outsiders joining to the group. Since the particular villages I went to have a lot of wide open country you can actually track them pretty well by sight. 

Why are you printing this book yourself?

I think this topic is likely too obscure to publish to mass market. That said, I believe it’s an important one. I’m giving a natural context for much of the research done on crow intelligence as it relates to crow interactions with human beings. This will change the way we see crows. I also want to push the boundaries of what you can do with a photobook. 

So what is your goal?

My goal is to print a small run of really beautiful books, and then to share the digital content as broadly as I can. I want to do more small runs of books on other topics later. I’m even thinking of starting a press for small run photobooks. I have a non-fiction book in the works that is aimed more towards a mainstream audience. 

How can we help?

The thing that draws in most pledges is a personal note to friends in an email or private message on social media. ‘Hey this guy I know is doing this project…would you consider pledging?’ After the book is out you could share the project with anyone who might be interested. 

What has paganism got to do with this?

The connection between shamanic religions and crows goes way back. This is evident in historical texts and still existing traditions like ritual crow-feeding on Jeju Island. It could be this context in which humans and crows first became intimately connected.

Does ritual crow-feeding have a practical reason?

I think so. There are theories out there that say humans used to give portions of their food to animals back when they were hunter-gatherers in order to keep them from stealing it all. Strategic bird-feeding exists on Jeju Island in a non-sacred context as well as a sacred one. 

What is ‘A Shamanic People’?

This is a separate photobook of black and white photos with short essays about my time on Jeju following local people to their shamanic shrines. I have hundreds of photos of this part of the process of my research that I want to share because I feel it to be valuable. I put this book together back in the winter. 

Do you expect to meet the goal in time?

I hope so! I sent out 500 emails this past Wednesday. Now that people have pre-ordered the book I’m even more motivated to make this Kickstarter work. The response to my initial presentation at the gallery show of the project was well-received and people who visited the gallery were quite fascinated with the project. Other comparable projects met similar goals.