Monday night I reached my goal, though you may have noticed it was a bit of a nail biter. Several pledges came in during the last couple of hours and I made it over. One large one came from an unknown pledger who has backed hundreds of Kickstarter projects. Another came from a friend — thanks Bill.

Anyone experienced with Kickstarter knows, however, that you have to have plan B ready if it appears you’re going to fall short. The last thing you want is to lose all the money pledged in the campaign, and at the same time, let everyone down who made a commitment to your project. So you need a friend or relative standing by with credit card in hand able and willing to make a last minute pledge just large enough to make sure your goal is reached.

Nevertheless, only 36% of Kickstarter campaigns are successfully funded. Having now completed four campaigns, the only thing I can figure is that many people far underestimate their ability to generate interest in their projects, or they set an unrealistic goal.

One thing you learn in utilizing crowd funding, is that it’s not just about raising money. Obviously, that is the critical task at hand, but what you are seeking, ultimately, is to build a community of support for your work. I’m speaking about creative projects as opposed to the many product-oriented campaigns you’ll also see on Kickstarter.

In my case, of course, there is a product — a book — and a story. In making the pictures for Atlantic City, I worked from a sense of urgency, a highly motivated response to what I saw as an existential emergency in the election of Donald Trump.

I believe we will prevail, but it will take all of us acting individually and collectively to turn things around. I still remember when I was 16, and had just gotten my first camera, that I wanted to change the world, and I believed, perhaps naively, that you could do that as a photographer.

All these years later, I understand quite well the limitations of art in the political sphere. But I also understand the power of art as a catalytic agent, whether pursued by an individual painter alone in a studio, or a photographer engaged in the social landscape.

Thank you all for your support and for your pledges. The next step is to finalize the design of the book and then put it into production. I am hoping to get it out as early as possible after the new year. I’ll be keeping you up to date along the way.