Hey Hey + Happy Weekend to you!
These are busy days and there is much to share, more than I could ever post in good taste! ACCMe Studio is roaring along, doing fantastic work and growing like weeds. I am so excited for all of you and it’s future. I am still collecting details, but many Picture Review alumni and currents also have shows and recognition to tell you about, it thrills me to watch good work out in the world being seen! The Picture Review May Fair production is also in full swing, and we trust to see you on May 16th! We are always hopeful everyone will come, but this is a no miss y’all. Thank you for following us on Instagram, we are off to a great start and I am thrilled the team is sharing our endeavors there!
@thepicturereview
I thought you might be curious about a part of the process the The Picture Review team is working through. Grants, Call for Entries, Portfolio Reviews, Public Art, Fellowships – there are so many paths and opportunities. I see these devices as potential fuel in the trajectory of our careers. They have become big business. I think wise to be thoughtful in the ones we choose, and what work we submit for them.
I love to sequence and edit pictures. I spend a lot of time thinking about narrative and how to craft and unfold story in the project(s) I am producing. It’s hard, and I constantly work to get better at it. One way to think about the methods we are using with The Picture Review and my classes is a simple series of strategies to help us make good decisions.
One editing philosophy I practice is the A B C process.
Table A is motherland – the work that will get seen. Table B a close country, the pictures are kindred yet heroes remain cloudy, clear decisions cannot easily be reached. Table C is a land far away, pictures here have heart or sympathy, but can not in good conscience be included at this time. This is an organic thing, as you shape your story the pictures will flow between the three worlds of A, B and C. Some fall from grace, others ascend as they reveal themselves in the long journey to table A.
At some point a cataclysm will manifest. Table B dissipates and pictures must rise or fall – in or out. You want to be truly merciless here, only the best and most needed photographs arrive to serve at table A. This happens over and over in my own work until I am sure table A is the most authentic, potent story I have.
If you will allow me one insistence here, especially If you are editing for the wall or the page, please stop looking at a screen. Lightroom is poisoning you and seriously impeding your progress. Make prints dammit!
If you are interested, I will keep writing about the strategies we employ as we move ahead. I hope you will try this with your own work, it is more than big fun and something I deeply cherish about what we do.
With my best to you always,
Sean.
#ThePictureReview #MakeGoodWork #InConversation
