Can you keep a secret?

I’m going to let you in on a secret – my next exhibition is going to take place in Stanley Civic Hall in September and you could be the star of it.

My last two exhibitions at the Civic Hall have focussed on the Stanley area and have featured both film and digital landscape photography. The photos in Stanley² were all taken on a plastic toy camera, the Holga 135BC and portrayed the town in a series of ghostly double exposures. In the second exhibition Born as Ghosts I switched to digital photography to celebrate the unwanted, abandoned and obsolete elements I witnessed in my environment.

This time however, I want to take a more collaborative approach and create an exhibition of portraits photography of local people. This is where you come in! I’m looking for people who would like to take part in a portrait photo shoot and have their image displayed at the exhibition in September.

“When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I’d like to know them.”
– Annie Liebovitz

I must stress I’m not looking for “models” in the traditional sense, simply anybody who is interested in photography and has their own unique style. I’m not focussing on any age range, gender, or cultural background, I want this exhibition to be as wide ranging as possible.

As you can see from my previous examples, what I really enjoy doing with portraits is getting outdoors and contrasting the subject’s outfit and pose with their environment. For example, I absolutely love these photos of my friend Anna which were taken, believe it or not, round the back of Kwik Save!

I’m open to suggestions on location, although I’d prefer to stay in the Stanley area because I want to celebrate what we have to offer here. Although I prefer taking photos outdoors because of the variety in colour and texture, I’ve just got my hands on some lighting equipment so if you have a good idea for an indoor shoot just let me know. I’m also open-minded on clothing and concepts for posing – feel free to throw your ideas this way – you won’t be disappointed.

But where’s the catch I hear you ask? Well, it costs a bit of money to print and frame 50-60 photos at exhibition quality. So all I’m asking of my models is that they make a contribution of £15 for which they will receive their framed 18×12 inch photo once the exhibition has finished. This is simply to cover the cost of the materials and you’ll also get all of the photos from your shoot on a disc.

You could consider this crowd-sourcing, or just a good way to get a truly unique and professional portrait.If you want to see more examples of what I can do please see my website.

If you are interested please get in touch and let’s brainstorm! Are you excited, because I am! Keep your eyes peeled on my facebook page and blog as I gather more ideas for subjects and locations. The game is afoot!