New year projects
January 2024
A creative project whether short (a day or week) or long term (months to years) is a way to focus and find purpose in your photographic or creative work. At every level of experience a project is also good practice and below are a few well know project starters.
For beginners, a project can accelerate your learning.
Dont worry too much about camera settings to start with, switch to auto and concentrate on framing and composing a good image.
As you assess the photographs you have made, note what you would like to change (darker, lighter, sharper, dreamier etc.) and then learn the settings to do so.
1. Spend a day photographing close to home, this could literally be your home or taking a walk in your local area. This exercise is about getting comfortable with your camera and learning to look and see interesting subjects in your everyday life.
2. Photograph a vase of flowers or plant every day over a couple of weeks as it changes. Notice light and structure as you make each photograph playing with settings and the light.
This exercise can be carried out with an object, landscape or even a person and is about practice.3. A classic 365 project of daily practice. Making a photograph a day for a year is a wonderful way to progress in your photography and find your style. This is about play, not being too precious about your images and exploring ideas by taking a small amount of time each day to practice. You will end up with a great series that tracks your year and learning.
These images can be taken on your phone as ‘sketchbook images’ and published to an organized account like instagram or Flickr or simply saved in file.4. Copy your favourite photograph - In all creative practice we learn from those we admire. Look at great photographs and learn from the best photographers in history.
Take one image and learn everything you can by recreating it. Make notes on why you like it so much and how yours compares. This is an exercise in learning technical skills not about copying other artists ideas.
For more confident photographers, where you already take good photos and know your settings but are struggling to make an impact creatively, a project can help you develop your style and find meaning.
5. Photograph the people close to you. Making a series of great photographs of your family or friends is not only a gift for all involved but the extra pressure can help improve your photographs.
This isn’t just family snaps, think and plan the project. Consider how you want to portray these people, could it be formal portraits or documentary style of a day? How do you want to present the images in the end?6. Try something you hate. Pick an area of photography you struggle with technical or creative. For me it would be using a tripod or flash. It could be photographing people or creating abstracts. Anything you don’t feel confident with. Make 12 (or more) images doing this until you feel more at ease with the subject.
And for those who know it all! The day you stop learning something you new is a sad day but if you are consistently producing great images its important to bring those photographs together in curated collections.
To be blunt, we are all at risk of being hit by a bus one day and leaving thousands of images on hard drives to our loved ones to deal with isn’t a gift.
As part of your practice it is important to cull and curate your photograph collections.
7. A Portfolio of 50 great photographs - choose your favourite 50 images from your photographic life. What story do they tell, how do they work together? What order do you place them in? Do they need an introduction? This is an exercise in looking at you work as a whole.
8. A series of 12 photographs - Can you find themes when looking back at your work. You may have 10 great landscapes that need two more to finish the set that will inspire a trip to make those photographs. Or of architecture or people wearing red that just sparks a new set of ideas. Consider the work you have produced and where it can lead to next. Are there images that stand out that you’d like to explore further with print or as a starting point for a new series.
9. The long project - What still gets you excited about photography? Indulge in this idea and make a series of 24 images. Think about what you want them to say and where they will be presented. Study the idea and exhaust it photographically over a period of time. It may be a landscape, animal, plant, human or place over a year. It may be a building or a bug. This is about doing the work.
10. Publish - where will you share these photographs?
Will you make prints? A book, a website, social media account, an exhibition? Consider applying for an RPS qualification? Will it just be for family and friends?
The making of the photograph is only half the work, let them be seen.
EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS / SERIES TO INSPIRE
Robert Frank - The Americans - published in the late 1950s this is one of the most famous photo books of all time. Robert Frank spent a couple of years travelling America to create this document of post war life in black and white.
Jamie Beck - Isolation Creation commercial photographer Jamie Beck started here ‘Isolation Creation’ series during lockdown where she photographed a still life each day recording the process and sharing the images on instagram. This lead to a fine art print exhibition and a published book.
Still - Mary Jo Hoffman is a photographer who has taken the 365 project and has produced still life images of objects from nature, every day for past few years. Sometimes in the field, other days carefully arranged in her home, Hoffman has created an extensive body of work now licensed by many brands.
Simon Moore - Portfolio Simon curates his photographs into collections based on an event or location published to his website. The simplicity of place or time leads to concise photo stories of Simons work.
Philip J Wells - A Walk in Wicklow - Phillip combines his passion for climbing with photography and writing to share with others his experiences on the walks he takes. This style of blog is not only great for the reader but serves as a record of Philips own photographic work as it develops over time.
Gordon Parks - Later Abstractions 1993 - 95 - in later life Parks photographed in his home.
”The dreamlike and impressionistic aspects of Parks’s color landscape photography lead fluidly into his late abstract compositions, which he characterized as “horizons of imagination” (Half Past Autumn, 1997). Combining elements of painting, sculpture, and photography, these compositions often included fl oral still lifes—flower petals and diaphanous fabrics were among his favorite subjects—positioned before brightly colored and dramatically lit backgrounds. Despite his advancing age, Parks made these images at a remarkable rate, claiming he felt compelled to create his own hills, mountains, and valleys. These exploratory works provide a" poetic coda to his career, the last expressions of his singular creativity.”
Joel Meyerowitz - Aftermath - Meyerowitz was the photographer to make sure a record of the 9/11 aftermath at the World Trade centre was recorded for history.
Ralph Gibson - Black Series 1980 - abstract studies in black and white and curated into a series.
Brad Carr - A Year Amongst Trees - Brad spend a year photographing Welsh woodlands to produce a large scale prints which have been exhibited in a solo show and a zine.
My Favourite of all time Irving Penn - Small Trades from 1951 onwards Irving Penn photographed street traders in his studio as a break from his commercial work.
Martin Parr - Last Resort - British kitsch seaside satire in fine art form. Martin Parr creates series for exhibition and book form.
David Hurn - Anti Vietnam Protest - Magnum photographer David Hurn is a respected documentary photographer who has captured life over decades.
Karine Aigner - Wild Dogs - Aigner was winner 0f the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the year with Big Buzz but her series of photographs titled Wild Dogs show more about the lives of these creatures.
Beth Nicholls Photography - Beth is a photographer and writer based in Weston Super Mare. She predominantly shoots bands but shows a range of projects on her website. Most notably to the Weston area is her ‘Downside of the Seaside’ Series.
OTHER IDEAS FOR PROJECTS
A day in the life - pick a subject, a friend, family member, someone you find interesting, your cat and photograph their day. Curate into 16 images.
Through the Seasons - landscape or garden project returning to the same place over the year to produce and series of images reflecting the change in seasons.
Architecture of your local town - Weston Super Mare is great for this, look up and capture the history of architecture.A classic 24 shots - No deleting and no more. 24 shots, just like film. Great for taking your time, working on composition and that all important ‘decisive moment’.
Pick a colour - out and about look for a chosen colour. It may be red or a tone of green and concentrate on photographing that colour where you can to produce a collection of images. This lends itself well to street photography and abstracts.
BOOKS
2 great little text books on photography
Albert Watson - Creating Photographs
David Hurn & Bill Jay - On Being a Photographer
PODCASTS
YOUTUBE