Chris Kresser
New member
I just read David Hurn & Bill Jay's On Being a Photographer. I enjoyed a lot of it, but I found the section on project-based photography particularly helpful, since that is mostly what I'm interested in these days.
David suggests the following inquiries when choosing a subject for a new project:
1. Is it visual? (There are many ideas which would be better suited to the written word or another non-visual medium, for example)
2. Is it practical? Accessible? (I'm out of luck if I want to do a series on Antarctic wildlife)
3. Is it a subject I know enough about? (Hurn cautions against the superficiality that results when the photographer is not educated about the subject; for example, walking around snatching pictures of homeless people in doorways does little to improve their plight. It's more like exploitation for the photographer's own ends.)
4. Is it interesting to others? (This is tricky, of course. Choosing a subject we aren't passionate about but think will interest others is a recipe for burnout and inauthentic work. But all things being equal, if we have two subjects we care about and one of them might be of more interest to the people we intend to show the project to, it probably makes sense to choose that one.)
I'm finding these questions helpful in evaluating my own ideas. For example, I've been working on a project called "Choice" which explores the effects of increasing consumer choice in today's world. It is visual, it is a subject I've researched and know a fair amount about, and I've received feedback that indicates it is of interest to at least some people.
However, I'm quite stuck on #2 - access. Not surprisingly, store managers don't take kindly to folks (like me) coming into their stores and taking pictures of the shelves!
Rather than completely abandon the project, I'm considering ways I could solve the access problem. One possibility, of course, would be trying to find a store manager who will give me permission to make some pictures during a slow time at the store. Another is to think of another way to visually convey what I'm trying to communicate in this series.
In any case, I've found that the criteria above have really helped me to focus my thinking about a project. I'd be curious to hear any of your thoughts or reflections on your experience with choosing subjects for project-based photography.
David suggests the following inquiries when choosing a subject for a new project:
1. Is it visual? (There are many ideas which would be better suited to the written word or another non-visual medium, for example)
2. Is it practical? Accessible? (I'm out of luck if I want to do a series on Antarctic wildlife)
3. Is it a subject I know enough about? (Hurn cautions against the superficiality that results when the photographer is not educated about the subject; for example, walking around snatching pictures of homeless people in doorways does little to improve their plight. It's more like exploitation for the photographer's own ends.)
4. Is it interesting to others? (This is tricky, of course. Choosing a subject we aren't passionate about but think will interest others is a recipe for burnout and inauthentic work. But all things being equal, if we have two subjects we care about and one of them might be of more interest to the people we intend to show the project to, it probably makes sense to choose that one.)
I'm finding these questions helpful in evaluating my own ideas. For example, I've been working on a project called "Choice" which explores the effects of increasing consumer choice in today's world. It is visual, it is a subject I've researched and know a fair amount about, and I've received feedback that indicates it is of interest to at least some people.
However, I'm quite stuck on #2 - access. Not surprisingly, store managers don't take kindly to folks (like me) coming into their stores and taking pictures of the shelves!
Rather than completely abandon the project, I'm considering ways I could solve the access problem. One possibility, of course, would be trying to find a store manager who will give me permission to make some pictures during a slow time at the store. Another is to think of another way to visually convey what I'm trying to communicate in this series.
In any case, I've found that the criteria above have really helped me to focus my thinking about a project. I'd be curious to hear any of your thoughts or reflections on your experience with choosing subjects for project-based photography.