[Photograph: NY Pizza Project]
Five, 30-year old native New Yorkers—Corey, Gabe, Ian, Nick, and Tim—set out to capture the unique relationship between the people of NYC and their pizza. The group started out documenting the pizzerias of the city for fun, but quickly realized what they had and set about transforming their photographs and anecdotes into a full-fledged book, The New York Pizza Project. An endeavor, it seems, that touched a lot of people: their Kickstarter campaign to fund the book's publication met its goal ($15K) within the first 48 hours—the campaign closes to the public May 15th. To fans of pizza, contributing seems like a no-brainer, but in case you need any extra convincing, they've come up with some pretty nifty rewards, like an hour-long session with a pizzaiolo.
[Photograph: NY Pizza Project]
The guys visited over 100 shops in the five boroughs, capturing the stories of the patrons, owners, and employees. "We like to say 'it's not about the food, it's about everything else,'" said Ian Manheimer. "We started to see the city through the lens of the stories we were capturing. Recurring themes about immigrants starting new, the complications of working with family, and small businesses trying to withstand gentrification were told to us over and over again. To us, these narratives became the authentic voice of the city, and we wanted to share them with everyone."
[Photograph: NY Pizza Project]
We, for one, are very glad they did. For more information on The New York Pizza Project, please visit their website, or visit the Kickstarter page to show them your support. And if you want to dig a little deeper, check out the Village Voice's interview with Gabe Zimmer.