Portraying My City
October 3rd, 2008 | Published in 12 Seattleites, Photography | 3 Comments
Readers of my blog over at Zoom In Online will have heard of my “12 Seattleites” project already, but the time has come for me to spread the word here as well. In short, I am putting together a book and a show, where I seek to portray Seattle through 12 of its inhabitants. I will follow each person around and document their life over the course of a few days and hopefully, when they are all put together, a larger image of the city will appear.
I’ve set myself some rules to help shape the project further. The subjects I’ll be shooting should come from outside my own sphere, and though I’ll be shooting digitally, all the photos will be converted to black and white. I’ve set off about a year to complete it and a budget of approximately $3,500. This is definitely the first time, I have invested that type of money in an art project, and I will consider myself lucky if I break even on it. In fact, I have pretty much come to grips with the fact, that I probably won’t make my investment back. But I’m not doing it for the money.
I do it, because I feel a need to. After living here just over three years, I have come to enjoy Seattle and now I want to give something back. Also, after having worked with stock photos for so long, I have a personal need to do something a little more meaningful. And just like a rock band, who must invest in studio rental, hiring on a sound guy and having posters printed up, I too must make a financial commitment, to get the result I want. In the end, the satisfaction of seeing a show go up or a book in print, will be reward enough.
However, I don’t want to invest this amount of time, work and money for a show at the local coffeeshop, yet at the same time, I’m not exactly expecting Seattle Art Museum to come knocking on my door. My level of ambition is somewhere in the middle.
Part of the project so far, has been to learn a little bit about my own strengths and weaknesses. One thing I needed help with, was finding twelve different, suitable and willing subjects to shoot. So I’ve hired on a personal assistant to help me track down volunteers. He will also do some rough screening and help me keep track of the overall mix — ethnicity, lifestyle, age, sex etc. Having someone to help me get started is a huge kick in the ass, and the fact that I have to pay this guy serves as another kick. A carrot and stick in one, which is absolutely perfect for someone with as many ongoing projects as me.
Expect more updates on this as they happen.
October 3rd, 2008at 11:55 am(#)
Sounds like a great project. Good luck with it and finding some great Seattleites. Look forward to seeing the end result.
October 3rd, 2008at 12:07 pm(#)
yay! I am so glad that you’ve stuck with this project. I can’t wait to see the outcome of it. If I was baking fortune cookies today, yours would say “your hard work will pay off and reward you well!”
November 11th, 2008at 2:55 pm(#)
[...] first priority. More specifically, I want to focus on more artistic efforts, such as my “12 Seattleites” project. I’m already working on a few of these personal projects, but the difference [...]