The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
Today’s featured artist: Stephen Wilkes
Coney Island, Day to Night™, 2011
Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY is home to one of the most iconic boardwalks and amusement parks in the United States. I photographed from a crane 40 ft. above the boardwalk, for 18 hours. It was a beautiful summer day in July, and the beach was filled with people. My favorite part of creating this photograph was simply the people-watching. Coney Island has an incredible mix of people; and as a street photographer, floating above that boardwalk is the best seat in the house.
“To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle”.
-Walt Whitman
Day to Night is a 14 year personal journey to capture fundamental elements of our world through the hourglass of a single day. It is a synthesis of art and science, an exploration of time, memory, and history through the 24-hour rhythms of our daily lives.
I photograph from locations and views that are part of our collective memory. Working from a fixed camera angle, I capture the fleeting moments of humanity and light as time passes. After photographing as many as 1500 single images, I select the best moments of the day and night. Using time as my guide, all of these moments are then seamlessly blended into a single photograph – a visualization of our conscious journey with time.
In a world where humanity has become obsessively connected to personal devices, the ability to look profoundly and contemplatively is becoming an endangered human experience. Photographing a single place for up to 36 hours becomes a meditation. It has informed me in a unique way, inspiring deep insights into life’s narrative, and the fragile interaction of humanity within our natural and constructed world.
To see more of this on going project, click here
APE contributor Suzanne Sease Currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. Follow her at @SuzanneSeas, Instagram