Some of you may remember or have been a part of a photo project with me at different times where we pick a topic and everyone submits their interpretation of that topic. In the early days, we would literally go out with cameras together and take pictures, have the film developed and compare what we took. This got easier with digital of course. Most recently at Albert’s last place of work, he did this to fill a space which came to be known as Gallery Hall where two topics were displayed, orange, and water. where there were up to thirty entries in water.
Recently Canon did a little experiment by having a man photographed by 6 photographers but before they took pictures of him they told them that he was a different background which resulted in very different pictures by the intent and interpretation.
Albert shared this on Facebook and asked if anyone would be interested in participating in a topical photography project/social experiment. So he made a group, The Photographer’s Eye, and invited a handful of people who volunteered or liked the idea.
In the first day we simply asked nuts and bolts questions like should the group be by invite only, who can see it, and what should the first topic be. Interestingly enough there were more votes that did not care who could see it or participate, and two suggestions for topics, Fall Leaves and Coffee drinks. Eager to start, we chose Fall Leaves, and in the first couple of hours we got 10 entries from 6 participants with images ranging from the architectural to a beautiful picture of a boy and a dog. Also, tellingly, of the 57 people invited to the project we had thirty people “accept” by looking at the group and reading posts in the first day. Members were asked to invite anyone they wanted and a few people have already done so, and a couple of people have posted that they were honored to be invited to the project. We think that the fact that the group says “secret group” has something to do with people feeling like they are a part of something.
In any case, please do check it out or ask us for an invitation on Facebook.