Photography Spotlight: The 50 States Project
Fifty states. Fifty photographers. Six assignments. One year. Go.
That’s the basic premise of The 50 States Project, the brainchild of UK-based photographer and art photography curator Stuart Pilkington.
The year-long effort brings together 50 American photographers, each from a different state, and gives them 6 different two-month assignments throughout the year.
The project launched in January 2009 with the first assignment, “People,” followed by “Habitat” in March. The remaining 4 will be announced on May 1st, July 1st, September 1st and November 1st of this year.
Photographs from the “People” assignment are already up, spanning the entire photography spectrum, from candid snapshots to classic portraiture to conceptual cultural commentary.
And while we wish there was a better way to browse photos within each of the assignments, we have to give it to Stuart for the brilliant idea — what better way to capture the rich character of the world’s most diverse country than through the vantage points of 50 different people situated across 50 different locales?
Keep an eye on the project for the next 5 assignments, which promise to be every bit as culturally insightful as the first.
- Photography Spotlight: The Obama Phenomenon What a camera and a chalkboard have to do with the political and cultural heritage of our time. There’s no question the Obama campaign ignited some powerful human emotions. But it’s hard to grasp just how powerful by simply talking about them from the sidelines of abstraction. That’s why photographer...
- Photography Spotlight: Blue Planet Run World-changing photography, or why the oil crisis is the least of our liquid worries. The best of photography goes beyond visual fascination and stunning imagery, and serves as a moving call to action. That’s exactly what photographers Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt do in Blue Planet Run, their latest project...
- Photography Spotlight: Things The cultural anthropology of things, or what Hitler's head has to do with Barbie....
- Perroquet: Photography, Science, Slow-Motion Beauty How three worlds of fascination collide through negative space and positive brilliance. ...
- Artist Spotlight: Stephan Zirwes Aerial Photography Incredible aerial images by German photographer Stephan Zirwes put our human scale into perspective....
[...] Photography Spotlight: The 50 States Project | Brain Pickings Awesome read – Nice photography [...]
Oh, this is an absolutely wonderful idea that should be done globally! The photos are amazing… and imagine if it was an international initiative with local photographers (chosen, not random) covering these topics in every country… how interesting would that be!
I love this! what an amazing project.