Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Ask an artist ...




Most artists have an answer when asked, “What are you working on now?” This could be your answer . . .

I follow many non-photographic art blogs and was intrigued by what a bunch of artists in Australia were doing: creating a series of artworks, one letter a week, for 26 weeks. Some worked in clay, some in metal, some were calligraphers, some were sculptors, etc. At the end of six months, each participant had, letter by letter, piece by piece, created an unusual whole. Well, if it's good enough for these artists in a variety of media, then what could we as photographers do?

So I've set up a photo project for next year called "Twenty-Six in Twenty-Six." We will all, week by week, concentrate on looking, seeing, creating one photograph a week of a different letter.

Maybe you'll find an "A" on the side of a train, a "B" that you've altered using your Photoshop post-processing skills, a "C" in the way a piece of metal curves on a gate, a "D" that you've made yourself out of rocks or feathers or have drawn in the sand. Your letters can come from all sorts of places. The key is to be out there looking, creating, photographing.

If you're looking for a non-stressful, interesting, continuing project to keep your focus on photography in 2011, this will do it for you. At the end of the project you'll have a comprehensive little body of work: an entire alphabet. I'll take the best of everybody's work and will put together a magazine depicting what we've done and will send a copy to each participant. You in?

Registration fee: $62. Begins January 1, 2011. Information and "the rules of the game" will be sent to you around the beginning of December. Fun stuff! Join us! Click my online store to register. ©Carol Leigh