Hi everyone - new members might be temporarily suspended but the challenges go on. And for new members desperate to join in - please do - and feel free to post your link as a comment for others to browse through.
There is still one week to go with the “all of me” challenge - I wanted to let you all know how much I am enjoying reading and viewing everyones brave posts in this month.
Time marches on and we are up to March - so I thought for march we would explore time.
why:
{Taken from Marc Tasman - he takes a polaroid image everyday:}
“There are few rational reasons for doing this. One is to document and observe my own face and body and its features as they bulge and shrivel; as hair grows and recedes. This work is a visual diary of my moods. A means of telling stories (my own, as well as others’). A sketchbook of sorts, from which ideas for paintings, performances, videos, animations, digital images, writing and websites spring. Proof that I existed. A desperate swipe at corporal immortality. A mystical jab at salable art in the gallery system. It is a discourse on identity. A way to process and digest reality and memory. A linear, unedited memoir in nonlinear times.”
I all these amazing links to share with you, but first let me explain the challenge.
For one month I would like you to document time - in order to …
- document and observe physical changes in yourself
- create a discourse on identity
- keep a visual diary of moods
- tell stories
I would also encourage you to read this essay by Andy Walker who documented himself for 1 year in polaroids. An extract you may find helpful:
“I didn’t know what might happen next. What would transpire and what would I capture? I put myself in front of the camera whether content, frustrated, drunk, tired, victorious, unhappy, flat, shy, injured, alone, exuberant, at home, travelling, nervous, vulnerable, busy, distracted or sick. The result is a sequence of responses; an aspect of my past as I saw myself through a series of frames. … The complete set of photos narrates both my movement through time and my physical changes in place. … A large part of my interest in this project was in doing it and finishing it, always applying rigor and integrity. I believe it only holds together if the observer understands the program and believes it was executed honestly.”
You may do this in a number of ways some - some ideas I have thought up - feel free to interpret this yourself.
- photograph yourself at the same time everyday - no matter what you are doing.
- photograph an event you participate in everyday - for example meal time - you may want to document breakfast or yourself eating breakfast - or your coffee ritual. - every day though or even 3 times a day - how about everytime you sit down for a cup of tea you photograph your plate or your hand holding the cup or your face drinking the tea or …
- photograph the clothes you wear - document every change of clothes - your shoes, your morning hair ritual.
- you could take a photo of yourself every time you are happy or annoyed - document your moods - or your actions or events.
- you could document body changes - get a new hair colour every day - new lipstick or the healing of a wound …
format: you may want to be a bit adventurous with format with this one - use a polaroid camera and scan the images at the end of the week (if you have these facilities). go to your local photobooth at the same time everyday and then scan the results at the end of the week. A digital camera is going to be easiest with this one - as I want at least 7 photos each week - more is fine of course.
Examples:
Polaroid daily photos:
Marc Tasmans daily polaroids
Andy Walker’s year in polaroids
the shower project - polaroids Shower with 100 women
daily image of weight loss and fitness
documenting the hand in contact with different objects
Noah K everyday - daily photograph
jason’s daily photograph
twins - daily image of each twin places next to each other
09h09 - photo taken at the same time each day
annual - portrait of each member of the family
nicholas nixon - the brown sisters - annual portrait of sisters
tomoko sawada - read the press release here for this interesting photobooth series
Friedl Kubelka’s life time of photographing her daughter
odile marchoul -weekly photobooth images
Ellie Harrison needs a section to herself - she many projects going on:
list of webbased project here - a couple of interesting ones listed below:
eat22 - documented all her meals over a 1 year period
project x - a weightloss project with herself and her mother
Day to day data - a travelling exhibtion curated by Ellie Harrison - “Day-to-Day Data exhibits the work artists who seek inspiration from insignificant details in their own or the publics’ everyday lives – artists who use daily experience as research material from which to obtain their data.”
