I’d like to go on a journey, and invite you to join me. I’m not sure exactly how it will go, which is scary, but that’s part of why it’s exciting, and why I don’t want to go alone.
Last week I watched the latest episode of Netflix’s remarkable series, ABSTRACT: The Art of Design, featuring the photographer Platon, A British portrait photographer. At the same time, I was listening to the Photochemical episode from the podcast Love and Radio, about, let’s just say, photobooths. That got me thinking about professional and amateur photography, about the photobooths I pass every day in the Museum, and all the opportunities I’ve clearly been missing.
I thought, There must be something I can do here, something curious, and small, that can gain meaning as the collection grows (like the Wonder exhibit in D.C.).
I considered how photobooths capture people in place, and in time. They can be personal, letting us share a creative, maybe even vulnerable, side of ourselves. They can be unexpectedly intimate, providing us with the unusual opportunity to ask someone else to join us in a cramped space, in public yet behind a curtain. And they can force us to take risks, challenging us to improvise in front of a camera’s recording eye.
So what did I want to focus on?
The place? My Museum.
The people? My colleagues.
The topic? Our relationship with the Museum, and each other.
So starting in January I am going to aim to do ONE a WEEK, for the entire year (not counting when I go on vacations). I am curious to see how it develops and changes over time.
I did a test below, theming it as follows.
Photo 1: Dinosaurs!
Photo 2: Outer Space…
Photo 3: Partner’s choice (Asish below chose Hall of Marine Life)
Photo 4: Together
We’ll see over time how the photos theme’s shift. And I am curious to hear what prompts YOU would like to see us use (and if you’d like to join me).
But here we go – the first test:
Caught in Time: a photobooth project (Dinos, Space, Marine Life, Together)
Visit the full set on Pinterest here.
