Environmental Portraits - Not Mine

Flyinggina

When I saw JimW show up in this forum, it brought back memories of an environmental photo project that he did in 2007-08. Called Jigsaw Puzzle Project, I remember how inspirational I found his story of how he went from concept to completion. Although I have yet to produced anything based on that inspiration, Jim's work has rested quietly on my mind since.

Jim shared his progress with dGrinners over time as he completed the project. His posts not only included his wonderful photos, but talked about his approach (including technical issues such as lighting) and his vision.

So, yes, there were words and explanations and I know that words are presently being discouraged here. In some cases, though, I think there should be an exception. For me Jim's posts about his project, photos and text, are worthy of such an exception,

We have been heavy on pj and street so far in this forum, which has been just great, but I think that documentary work, including long term projects, are worth sharing and discussing as well.

Here is a link to Jim's original post. You can find his later posts about the progress of the project by searching under the subject Jigsaw Puzzle Project.

For those who simply want to enjoy the photographs without the back story, you can find them without commentary under Environmental Portraits on Jim's website. Each photo speaks for itself - just as it should.

Looking at the series again, I am struck by how wonderful the the collection is. Absolutely outstanding work!!

Go. Look. Enjoy. You will not be sorry.

Virginia

bdcolen

Flyinggina wrote:

When I saw JimW show up in this forum, it brought back memories of an environmental photo project that he did in 2007-08. Called Jigsaw Puzzle Project, I remember how inspirational I found his story of how he went from concept to completion. Although I have yet to produced anything based on that inspiration, Jim's work has rested quietly on my mind since.

Jim shared his progress with dGrinners over time as he completed the project. His posts not only included his wonderful photos, but talked about his approach (including technical issues such as lighting) and his vision.

So, yes, there were words and explanations and I know that words are presently being discouraged here. In some cases, though, I think there should be an exception. For me Jim's posts about his project, photos and text, are worthy of such an exception,

We have been heavy on pj and street so far in this forum, which has been just great, but I think that documentary work, including long term projects, are worth sharing and discussing as well.

Here is a link to Jim's original post. You can find his later posts about the progress of the project by searching under the subject Jigsaw Puzzle Project.

For those who simply want to enjoy the photographs without the back story, you can find them without commentary under Environmental Portraits on Jim's website. Each photo speaks for itself - just as it should.

Looking at the series again, I am struck by how wonderful the the collection is. Absolutely outstanding work!!

Go. Look. Enjoy. You will not be sorry.

Virginia

Thanks, Virginia, for the link to Jim's wonderful project. I'd love to see more work like this. And, from my perspective, there is nothing wrong with text as part of a documentary project or as information with photo journalism - photo reporting. I don't see it having a place in street photography, but that's a whole other tray of photos.

What's so wonderful, by the way, about Jim's project - aside from the work itself - is that it proves Susan Meiselas's point that "far away is not a place" - you don't have to travel around the world to scenes of war and strife, you don't have to leave your town or neighborhood, you don't even have to leave your apartment building to find a good subject for a documentary project.