Photos - Finding a Common Thread: March 24-31, 2022
The Mission:
Take photos of three seemingly unrelated things (one photo of each thing), and find a way to relate them to each other - a common thread that bonds them together. Could be a unifying theme, or a common color scheme, or something in the geometry/composition of the photos. Could be song lyric or a line of text. With the photos, submit a short description of how you feel these ostensibly disparate things are related.
You don’t need to use a fancy camera or develop film in a dark room (unless you want to). Photos taken with your phone or any other device are just fine.
The Submissions:
"Right in Front of Me" by Soldier Clinging to Helicopter
"Mind the Gap"
"Sad Lunch"
"Satin Spring"
When I was a kid, I took several photography classes and LOVED them -- one at nerd camp during the summer, one as an elective in high school (oh, how I would have filled my schedule with art classes instead of all the rest if I knew I had any power to agitate for such a thing back then). As an adult, I buy books of photographs all the time and obsess over them. But I don't take photos anymore.
I cannot explain this.
When I got this week's assignment, I scrolled through my phone to see what I had recently snapped. My camera roll was dominated by two things: my pets and screenshots of mostly Dumb Shit From the Internet that I wanted to "remember" or buy or read or share with a friend.
I made a mental note to move through the world with a photographer's eye this week.
It still didn't happen.
(The other challenge was taking photos that were not related. I love a good theme -- even a good theme party, which I know most people detest -- and my mind & eye gravitate to thematic threads instinctively, so it was hard NOT to see & snap intentionally connected & curated images everywhere I looked).
By Tuesday, things were dire. I had a deadline, but apparently I still needed more accountability. I decided I would set my phone alarm to go off four times during the day for the next two days, and when it went off, I would take a photo of whatever was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, no matter how photogenic the object was or wasn't. Hence this series of photos, the "best" of the timed snaps -- a good reminder that sometimes you have to get tough with your accountability measures, and that even then, you won't always love what you make.
by Heart of Darkness
“Tiny bubbles hang above me, it’s a sign that someone loves me.”
Three photos. Seemingly unrelated, but all things that are signs that someone loves me. Or loved me. A mix CD from a decades-long friendship. One of many, one that explains the story of our friendship from seventeen year olds to almost 40 year olds and all the adventures we’ve been on since.
A presidential spoon. Part of a collection, drunkenly purchased on Etsy after an old boyfriend managed to snag a spot at the hot new restaurant in town for a much needed night out (looking at you, Rose’s Luxury). All their desserts were served with presidential spoons.
A chair. My favorite chair designer. A thoughtful gift from someone who doesn’t get it, but knows it matters. A sign they love me.
“Murmuration” by Captain Quillard
The Great Miami River, part of a table lamp, and a flock of birds. Nothing immediately or obviously tying these things together, but I felt a similar sense of motion and controlled chaos among them.
Each seems to move from left to right, starting from relative calm and progressing to a wilder state of unrest or disturbance. And yet, in each photo, the wilder, more explosive right end, while somewhat chaotic, also feels comforting and more natural in some ways—there’s something freeing and lighter about the river splashing against the rocks, the lamp’s bubbles become softer and move into the light, and the birds (starlings, I think), are on the verge of transitioning from sporadic flock into the precise, combined geometry of their murmuration.
Left to right, dark to light, calm flowing into a burst of controlled chaos—maybe building to something more significant than where it started. I won’t be able to look at my lamp the same way again.
Bonus points: I was listening to this song as I worked on these, and sort of feel like it goes with the photos:
”Ellipses” by Andrew Bird
by Espy la Copa
I didn't set out looking for a theme, but was hoping to be inspired on my walk home. After taking a few photos I realized several of them had the AWAL ESEK sticker tag, and suddenly I was obsessed with finding them all. This shit is better than Easter eggs, better than Pokemon Go. Don't neglect the GAZER SNOW, AWAL ASOE, HASL ESEK, IOWA BEZAR ESEK, OR THE PSWA KWAO! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FIND THE KNAG PONZI RFR!! PH’NGLUI MGLW’NAFH CTHULHU R’LYEH WGAH’NAGL FHTAGN!!!
Next Week’s Assignment:
This week's theme: symmetry.
This week's medium: the "paint" of your choice (That old crusty tin of water colors? Tiny tubes of oil paint you bought and never used? Your tepid morning coffee? A leftover Tupperware of tomato sauce? Interpret "paint" as you wish).
This week's "canvas": three to five 3x5 note cards or four to six 4x6 note cards. I figure these are easy enough to come by, but if you need me to make a special delivery, let me know.
Use the paint and brush of your choice to create a series of vignettes (again, 3-5 or 4-6) on the note card size of your choice. Bonus points for clever visual display of the completed paintings.