My name is Jeff Wignall and I am turning to GoFundMe for three important reasons: to save my family home of 70 years (taxes, upkeep) to heat the house (oil) in the coming winter and to try to relaunch my writing and photography business in a changing and challenging business climate.

I am a writer and a photographer by trade and I have written around 40 how-to books about photography (you can look at some here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/531751.Jeff_Wignall) and, in my younger days, I traveled the world taking pictures to illustrate my books. Sadly, the publishing world has changed a great deal and most of what I wrote books about is covered in web pages. Publishers cut way back on physical books (much as we all love books, the web is our reality now) and when that happened, my business disappeared--and it seems like it was almost overnight.

I have been searching daily for a part-time job so that I didn't have to turn to Go Fund Me, but it has not been easy. I have some physical issues (arthritis in my knees and other issues) that prevent me from standing for long periods, so I have been primarily looking for a work-from-home type position, or a sit-down job at a business. I found a great job working remotely for a theater in Peekskill, NY (the Paramount Hudson Valley), but when the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) was defunded, my position was ended. I loved the theater, they loved me, but they lost the grants that funded me.

I have also written for virtually every major photography magazine in the world, including Photo District News (I was the Technical Editor for 10 years), Popular Photography, Modern Photography and Petersen’s Photographic. I was also the “Camera” columnist for the Sunday New York Times for many years. In addition, I was a well-known rock and roll photographer for four decades--I have photographed everyone from the Rolling Stones, to Rod Stewart to Johnny Cash. What a blast those years were!!! You have no idea!

In the last four years I have fallen on extremely hard times (as have a lot of us). The two cats that I had (and getting meds for them was a big part of me starting this Go Fund Me account a few years back) have sadly passed on. (I leave the photo above as a tribute to my cat Boo Boo who I had for 17 1/2 years). I have gotten to the point where the phone simply never rings anymore and my income has stopped. It has been kind of terrifying. I live off of a tiny social security check and SNAP benefits (food stamps). I can no longer the upkeep necessary to hold onto my family home.

Life has gone from fun and creative to pure survival mode. I am sure some of you have been there, too.

Tracing where my assignment business went was pretty easy. The crumble began during the Covid years. Many of the smaller publishers and even a few major publishers that I did business with simply vanished. Each day was a nightmare of getting calls from publishers saying, “We have decided to close up shop, we’re sorry, but there is no more work for you.” It was a scary and fast decline. Most of these publishers were based in Manhattan and during covid, Manhattan was a ghost town. Publishing doors slammed shut.

Something else happened during those years that made things even worse: cellphone cameras (and trust me, I worship mine) simply replaced real cameras. Because cellphones are so simple to use, the users don’t need to buy or read books that explain the use of more complex cameras. Publishers had no use for photo books.

Anyway, it has been a humbling, depressing and exasperating time, but I refuse to give up hope. In addition to finding a job, I have started writing novels and I'm currently writing a novel (about a lion!) for young adults. It is the best thing I have ever written. I am also nearly done with my first mystery novel--my first venture into adult fiction writing. Unlike the books I wrote for major publishers for which I was given a tiny royalty, I will own all of the rights to my own ebooks and all of the profits.

Most folks don’t know this, but the authors of books published by major publishers are only given a relatively minuscule royalty that is based on the wholesale price of the books. Typically I was paid less than $1 per book—even for books that topped bestseller lists and sold for $30 or more.

Fortunately, I had a small amount of savings that I was able to tough things out and survive and keep my beloved cats fed. But those funds have been used up.

I had kind of let this Go Fund me appeal fade away after my cats passed, I felt guilty asking for help just for myself. But I am here again oout of last-ditch desperation. I need your help. I am dangerously close to losing my family home that my family has owned for more than 70 years and it needs a lot of upkeep. Also, where I live in Connecticut, you either find a way to buy oil or you are not going to survive. I sold everything I had this past winter to buy oil—most of my cameras, my book collection, my music collection, all gone.

I have a complex mix of emotions—humiliation, fear, sorrow and frustration—at having to turn to friends and strangers to help fund my life, but as I said, I will continue to try desperately to find a job. I am willing to do anything for minimum wage. Sadly, job hunting has been the most frustrating experience of my life. I have applied for dozens of jobs with no luck. One major retailer told me they get “thousands” of job applications for every job advertised. Imagine?

So there it is. At this moment I literally cannot pay the monthly bills. I am trying to keep the lights (and soon heat) on and I miss my precious Boo Boo cats terribly. If you can help, you will be in my prayers of thanks every moment of my life. And I will pay your kindness forward.

Thank you for your time and your kindness. I appreciate both more than I can say. Even a very small donation is received in utter gratitude. Stay healthy, be safe.

Friend me on Facebook if you want, I love all of my friends there, we have a great solving the world's problems, lol.

Your friend,

Jeff Wignall