On keeping moving forward

At the beginning of this year I did what most of us do, and decided to take stock, and make a list of resolutions that I was determined to actually keep. For a change, I didn’t bother worrying about weight, or chocolate, or too much wine. Instead I decided to resolutionate (I just made up a verb!) entirely around my photography. I really do have a tendency to flit around in too many directions, picking up projects and often not finding the focus to even define what I want to achieve with them, never mind work out how to bring them to fruition. 2011, I decided, was going to be different.

And so I made myself a list. A short list, granted, but a focused one. I picked 3 projects that I wanted to spend this year working on; projects that would be tangible and achievable. I then wrote them down on the big white-board I have in my study. That’s always Step 1, isn’t it? Writing it down.

The main difference in these ideas as opposed to previous attempts, is the element of collaboration that they involve. And here it is, only February, and things are taking shape. It feels great, and I am constantly busy trying to keep up with it all. It’s been a fab couple of months, and I hope the rest of the year continues in this direction.

In the spirit of throwing myself out there, I’ve decided to ask for some help. If anyone reading this feels they can contribute, advise or get involved in any other way in any of these projects, I would absolutely love it if you got in touch. Leave a comment, or send me an email. I’m finally using my photography to connect, and I want to keep that momentum going.

We live here : Sydney

This is a portrait project that I started up at the end of last year. Since shouting out for willing subjects, I’ve had a really great response. Everyone I have met so far has been lovely, and for that experience alone I’m so happy that I decided to take the plunge. It should be weird – meeting up with a stranger for an hour or two, to take their picture for my silly little blog. But it hasn’t been weird in the slightest. Every shoot has been fun, I’ve been getting some great portraits of fabulous people, and I suspect that some of these folks may end up my friends. Details of how it works are here, and if you live in Sydney and want to get involved, just get in touch. If you know someone who might want to get involved, pass the link along. Don’t be scared….I’m not a serial killer. Just a serial shooter. (hah!)

Doggie coffee table book

This one is in its infancy, but it’s going to be a doozy. I’m working with DCH adoptions to produce a coffee table book of portraits of animals and their owners. Most of them will probably be re-homing success stories through DCH, but anyone who would like to take part is invited. At the moment, we’re still doing the number-crunching, and so I’d like to ask anyone out there who knows a printer who might be willing to cut us a deal on publishing the book to please let me know. I’m looking at photographing about 40 portrait sittings, and with so much time and effort involved, we want to make this as profitable as we can. The best way of doing this is getting publishing costs down.

Of course, DCH are also always looking for foster-carers (that’s how little Gertie-Girl – more recently nicknamed ‘The Gerticon’ – came into my life) or those ready to adopt a dog or cat into their homes and lives.

Working with an NGO or charity

This one is yet to get off the ground, and so really in this area I’m looking for ideas or advice. I’m an avid follower of many great humanitarian photographers, such as David DuChemin, and Matt Brandon, as well as the ever-growing body of work being produced by the community over at IGVP. I mention these guys because they have such a huge presence in this area of photography, but there are countless photographers out there getting involved in causes they believe in. This year I want to see if I can make some small difference too. The onus is on me to approach those charities that I feel are a good fit to my photography and experience, but I would appreciate any stories, or advice, from other photographers or non-photographers, or marketing people, or just generally interested parties out there who have been involved in a marketing or fundraising project.

If you know of a small NGO or charity who is looking for a photographer to help tell the story of the people they are trying to help, I’d really appreciate a link or phone number. The small guys probably don’t have much internet presence, and so can be hard to find. But mainly, any thoughts or ideas or advice, would be greatly appreciated.