Unseen (the photos we take when no one's looking), 2014
*** 2015 UPDATE: THE UNSEEN PROJECT IS CURRENTLY ON HOLD WHILE I FOCUS ON OTHER PROJECTS, AND I AM NOT POSTING NEW TEXTS TO THE FACEBOOK PAGE AT THE MOMENT. TO VIEW PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED TEXTS, CLICK HERE... ***
UNSEEN IS AN ONGOING PROJECT, AND YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS WELCOME.
I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO AMASS A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN WITH SMARTPHONES. IN THIS AGE OF DIGITAL MEDIA IT SEEMS THAT MOST OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS WE TAKE WITH OUR PHONES END UP ONLINE, SHARED ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, OR SOME OTHER PLATFORM. IF THEY ARE NOT UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET, THEY ARE OFTEN SHARED WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY VIA TEXT, EMAIL, WHATSAPP, SNAPCHAT, ETC.
HOWEVER, I AM INTERESTED IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT ARE NEVER SEEN. TAKEN IN AN INSTANT, AND THEN DISCARDED OR FORGOTTEN, LEFT TO SIT ON OUR SIM CARDS FOR ALL ETERNITY. WHY DO WE TAKE THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS? AND WHY DIDN'T WE SHARE THEM? I FEEL THAT PERHAPS THESE IMAGES SAY MORE ABOUT OURSELVES THAN THE ONES THAT WE DO CHOOSE TO SHARE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BRING THEM IN TO THE PUBLIC ARENA.
BUT TO PUBLISH THESE UNSEEN IMAGES AS THEY ARE (ONLINE OR OTHERWISE) WOULD BE TO NEGATE THEM, AND BESIDES THE WORLD IS ALREADY SATURATED WITH IMAGES. INSTEAD, I PLAN TO WRITE A SHORT TEXT PIECE ABOUT EVERY PHOTOGRAPH I AM SENT, AND UPLOAD THAT AS A JPEG TO THE UNSEEN FACEBOOK PAGE. IN THE SAME WAY THAT GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH 'READS' AN IMAGE VIA ITS METADATA RATHER THAN 'SEEING' IT, I AM INTERESTED IN EXPLORING THE TRANSLATION FROM IMAGE TO TEXT, AND OFFERING YOU WORDS INSTEAD OF PICTURES. WHAT IS LOST IN THAT TRANSLATION? AND WHAT IS GAINED? BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, IS THE INTIMACY THAT AN UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPH POSSESSES SIMULTANEOUSLY CONVEYED AND PRESERVED WHEN IT IS READ AND NOT LOOKED AT? I AM NOT OFFERING TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, BUT I HOPE YOU WILL HELP ME EXPLORE THEM.
SO. WILL YOU SEND ME YOUR PICTURES? I HAVE ONLY 3 STIPULATIONS:
1. THAT THE PHOTOS YOU SEND WERE TAKEN WITH YOUR PHONE.
2. THAT THEY ARE NOT DUPLICATES - IE. A PHOTO THAT CAME OUT WRONG (BLURRED, UNDER/OVEREXPOSED ETC.) THAT WAS THEN RE-TAKEN AND SHARED.
3. THAT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN POSTED ONLINE, OR SENT TO ANYONE ELSE - THE ONLY PLACE THEY HAVE BEEN IS ON YOUR SIM CARD.
PLEASE DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE QUALITY OR COMPOSITION OF YOUR IMAGES: THE IMAGE ITSELF IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING THAN WHAT IT CONSISTS OF.
EMAIL YOUR PICTURES TO: UNSEENPHOTOGRAPH@GMAIL.COM
OR
PRIVATE MESSAGE THE UNSEEN FACEBOOK PAGE.
UNSEEN IS AN ONGOING PROJECT, AND YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS WELCOME.
I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO AMASS A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN WITH SMARTPHONES. IN THIS AGE OF DIGITAL MEDIA IT SEEMS THAT MOST OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS WE TAKE WITH OUR PHONES END UP ONLINE, SHARED ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, OR SOME OTHER PLATFORM. IF THEY ARE NOT UPLOADED TO THE INTERNET, THEY ARE OFTEN SHARED WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY VIA TEXT, EMAIL, WHATSAPP, SNAPCHAT, ETC.
HOWEVER, I AM INTERESTED IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT ARE NEVER SEEN. TAKEN IN AN INSTANT, AND THEN DISCARDED OR FORGOTTEN, LEFT TO SIT ON OUR SIM CARDS FOR ALL ETERNITY. WHY DO WE TAKE THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS? AND WHY DIDN'T WE SHARE THEM? I FEEL THAT PERHAPS THESE IMAGES SAY MORE ABOUT OURSELVES THAN THE ONES THAT WE DO CHOOSE TO SHARE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BRING THEM IN TO THE PUBLIC ARENA.
BUT TO PUBLISH THESE UNSEEN IMAGES AS THEY ARE (ONLINE OR OTHERWISE) WOULD BE TO NEGATE THEM, AND BESIDES THE WORLD IS ALREADY SATURATED WITH IMAGES. INSTEAD, I PLAN TO WRITE A SHORT TEXT PIECE ABOUT EVERY PHOTOGRAPH I AM SENT, AND UPLOAD THAT AS A JPEG TO THE UNSEEN FACEBOOK PAGE. IN THE SAME WAY THAT GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH 'READS' AN IMAGE VIA ITS METADATA RATHER THAN 'SEEING' IT, I AM INTERESTED IN EXPLORING THE TRANSLATION FROM IMAGE TO TEXT, AND OFFERING YOU WORDS INSTEAD OF PICTURES. WHAT IS LOST IN THAT TRANSLATION? AND WHAT IS GAINED? BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY TO ME, IS THE INTIMACY THAT AN UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPH POSSESSES SIMULTANEOUSLY CONVEYED AND PRESERVED WHEN IT IS READ AND NOT LOOKED AT? I AM NOT OFFERING TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, BUT I HOPE YOU WILL HELP ME EXPLORE THEM.
SO. WILL YOU SEND ME YOUR PICTURES? I HAVE ONLY 3 STIPULATIONS:
1. THAT THE PHOTOS YOU SEND WERE TAKEN WITH YOUR PHONE.
2. THAT THEY ARE NOT DUPLICATES - IE. A PHOTO THAT CAME OUT WRONG (BLURRED, UNDER/OVEREXPOSED ETC.) THAT WAS THEN RE-TAKEN AND SHARED.
3. THAT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN POSTED ONLINE, OR SENT TO ANYONE ELSE - THE ONLY PLACE THEY HAVE BEEN IS ON YOUR SIM CARD.
PLEASE DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE QUALITY OR COMPOSITION OF YOUR IMAGES: THE IMAGE ITSELF IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING THAN WHAT IT CONSISTS OF.
EMAIL YOUR PICTURES TO: UNSEENPHOTOGRAPH@GMAIL.COM
OR
PRIVATE MESSAGE THE UNSEEN FACEBOOK PAGE.
UNSEEN EVOLVED FROM AN ORIGINAL PUBLICATION OF UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS CONTRIBUTED BY OTHER ARTISTS. IT CAN BE VIEWED AND PURCHASED HERE.
