Seven years ago . . .

This is one of my early photomontages, created in 2008 and also posted to my blog this date in 2008. I've always liked this image, with its rather insouciant "A" strutting down the street, the sweep of curves behind it, the warm colors, and the unexpected bits of red here and there. To me, it's held up over the past seven years.

Which is more than I can say for myself!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

More letters ...

Letters are always on my mind, and here are a few I've created during the past couple weeks. I love the outrageous colors in the big pink "N," the sort of white-washed and faded look of the "A" (originally photographed on a burlap sack in San Diego), the hard-edged boldness of the "C," and the weathered "G," originally shot in Goldfield, Nevada years ago. ©Carol Leigh

The "26 in 26" project begins today ...

My new "26 letters in 26 weeks" photo project begins today, and everybody is working right now on the letter "A."

As the photos begin coming in, I'll be posting some of them (and their stories) in a blog I've set up for the project. If you'd like to follow along, see what people are creating, perhaps gain some inspiration, here's the link to the blog.

And if you, too, would like to be part of the fun, part of the challenge, the registration fee is $62, and you can register here.

Wishing you a healthy, wealthy, happy, and creative 2011! This year, as every year, may your photos exceed your expectations! ©Carol Leigh

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

Walkin' A in Bronze

Here I've combined a big letter "A" with part of an abstract painting, some handwriting, and weathered metal. It's a rather handsome look, I think. Not yet available for sale. ©Carol Leigh For more photomontages, please visit http://www.carolleigh.net Thank you.