Ordinary People Making a Difference: Ian Gibbs

When my friend Ian Gibbs announced that he was going to sell his concert photos online and donate the gross profits to charity, I was pretty sure that someday I’d ask him if I could tell his story. I believe that he is a perfect example of how any of us can use our interests and talents to try to make the world a better place. By marrying his love of music with his interest in photography, Ian has raised money for the Blues Foundation HART (Handy Artists Relief Trust) Fund, the Gift of Music Foundation, 30 Days Foundation, and other charitable organizations.

“I wanted to do more.”

Ian was inspired to start this project while touring the Blues Foundation museum in 2018. He noticed a display of art for sale, the proceeds from which were going to support the HART Fund. Having recently taken his photography hobby to a new level by expanding into concert photography, he thought he might be able to sell his photographs to support the fund. As he explored the idea, he expanded on it, deciding that the artists he photographed should suggest where the proceeds from their photos would go.

“Music is vitally important to me,” Ian told me. “Good music gets to your soul. I can’t play an instrument at all; there’s nobody in this world who would want to hear me try. So it has been important to me to help out the musicians whose work means so much to me. I buy concert tickets, CDs, merchandise. But I wanted to do more. I wanted to really contribute with the talents that I already have, and I wanted that to have meaningful impact. Doing what I’ve been doing has been very rewarding.”

Ian launched iangibbsphoto.com to provide a place where people can view and order his concert photos. The charities that are supported are determined by the photos someone decides to order. If, for instance, I decide that I want a picture of the Danielle Nicole Band at Knuckleheads, a notice at the top of the page with photos from that concert will inform me that “a sizable portion of the proceeds” will go to support Michael Shannon Musician’s Fund.

In addition to selling photos to individuals, Ian sells some of his photos to the bands themselves… and then donates his profits to a charity of the band’s choice. Last year, with far fewer concerts to photograph, Ian uploaded photos from some of his travels around the world, attaching charitable donations to sales of those photos, too. Photos from his 2017 trip to Antarctica support the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.

“I wanted to see her perform just based on this photo.”

For Ian, the benefits of this project extend beyond the charities he’s supporting. An avid music fan, he finds that photos provide a way for him to spread the word about musicians and music that he loves. “If my work inspires folks to check out more musicians, I’m helping the music community,” he said. In fact, he has had someone comment on one of his Joyann Parker photos, saying, “I want to see her perform just based on this photo.” When he learns that someone has checked out a band or a musician because of his photographs, it makes his day.

“Getting the word out is a challenge.”

Ian’s biggest challenge has been promoting this project. When he posts new photos on his website, he announces it on his own Facebook page as well as other relevant Facebook pages, but he’s been struggling to promote his photos beyond those forums.

A lack of press credentials doesn’t help. Smaller acts welcome his presence, but many of the larger bands require photographers to work for a traditional media company. “There are bands I’d love to photograph whose fans would almost certainly buy prints,” but he needs their permission if he’s going to sell their photos, even for a charitable cause.

His luck may be changing. Having just donated a couple of photos to a charitable auction, he’s attracted attention that led to an interview on The Unofficial Tedeschi Trucks podcast. This sort of success may lead to more attention to his site and more sales of his photography, allowing him to donate more to the charities he’s been supporting.

“Enthusiasm is infectious.”

Ian told me that before I interviewed him, he reviewed my “Ordinary People Making a Difference” series and was particularly struck by Liz Fleming’s story, noting that she proved something that has been a driving force in his own project. “Your skills don’t have to match what you think they would to make a difference,” he said. “What you’re doing could make an impact on someone even if you aren’t trying to make a difference. The more you do what you love [in Ian’s case, taking photos of musicians he loves], the more enthusiastic you are. That enthusiasm is infectious.” So Ian’s enthusiasm goes far beyond raising money for charity as he attracts new listeners for the musicians he loves.

I have to say that what Ian said during this part of the interview opened my eyes to ways I might be making a difference without even realizing it. While Ian told me I’d influenced him because of my enthusiasm for fairly traded chocolate (he attended one of my anti-slavery chocolate parties), he made me realize that my blog could make a difference in ways that I’d never intended. My “something wonderful” posts have, in my mind, not been about making a difference… but perhaps they make some sort of a difference anyway. While I do cover out-of-print books and art by people who died long ago, I also rave about books, movies, and music by people who are alive and could use more fans. Perhaps I’ve made a difference for them just by writing about their work, especially if people who have read a book or watched something that I’ve recommended love it enough to tell others about it. (Ian mentioned this sort of spread of enthusiasm and likened it to a commercial from our youth.)

Ian’s advice to others? “When you find something that’s important to you, do what you can to use your own talents to support that thing, even if that thing wouldn’t seem to be directly related to your talents. We all need to support our communities. In the process, we may better ourselves.”