A while back I was asked by Holly Gilman of 35mmC, to be a part of a project that would feature myself and 48 other photographer’s work created during the pandemic.
The book will showcase some of our photos and our thoughts on how Covid has affected our photography, good or bad. I am very honored and excited to have been asked to be a part of it. The goal for Hamish and Holly is not to profit, but to sell 250 books and make enough to send myself and the other 48 photographers, a copy of this book.
I am happy to announce that due to the interest you have all shown, it has now been given the go for a Kickstarter! If Hamish and Holly can reach their goal then the book will be able to be printed and sold to those who back it. I hope you will take a moment to read about it below and back the project.
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Either way, I am honored to have been asked, and to be a part of something that includes so many talented people. Thank you to those of you that signed up to be notified from my original post and thank you for your support.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
A quote from Hamish Gill: ”Fundamentally, this book is a photobook. It’s produced by a photography blog, curated and compiled by a hobbyist photographer, and contains the photos and words of people who consider themselves to be photographers. But somehow I think the book is greater than the sum of these parts. To both myself and Holly, it feels like a document of a moment in human history, and therefore is not just relevant to other photographers, but to anyone who is interested in how we as human beings responded to such difficult times.”
Photography Through The Pandemic features the photography and words of 49 photographers from across the world who were inspired – all in very different ways – by the Covid pandemic. It is a look at the myriad ways that the Pandemic has affected photographers from all around the world and from all different backgrounds. The connecting factor being a love of analogue photography and a desire to continue to create during these universally difficult times.
But this book isn’t just about photography, it is about shared experience, the different ways we as humans respond to crises, and how we learn to cope in our own individual ways. It is also about the power of creativity as a coping mechanism and could perhaps even be seen as an important document that – through words and pictures – captures a moment in human history that won’t, or at very least shouldn’t be forgotten for decades to come.
Kickstarter Launch
Photography Through The Pandemic has just launched on Kickstarter with a target of £12,000. If 250 people buy the book via the Kickstarter campaign, this will raise the cash needed not only to deliver those 250 books, but also to deliver a free copy to all of the photographers involved. This is the goal of this campaign, not to profit, but instead to see this book become a reality whilst also repaying the contributors with a free copy of the book.
Diversity
Within this book are the voices of a hugely diverse selection of people from all over the world, including people from different cultures, different races, genders and sexual orientations. With this comes an enormous variety of experiences of this strange time we are living through. But whilst the experiences, stories and photos are different, everyone who contributed to the book is connected by their response as a human being, as well as a shared passion for film photography and alternative photographic processes.
Background
Holly Gilman, who has curated and compiled the book, found herself curious to know how photographers from the analogue photography community – both amateur and professional – had dealt with all that came with the restrictions and social isolation. Did their art help them deal with their response? Did they find inspiration in the experience, or did they feel creatively challenged and stifled?
The idea of collating people’s responses in the form of a book was born.
With a little bit of help from Hamish Gill (the founder of 35mmc.com) and contacts she made through the website, Holly was able to find 49 photographers from every corner of the globe to submit images and write about their personal experiences.
The book explores the idea that photography isn’t just a hobby for many people. It is in fact a necessary tool, a coping strategy when times get tough. Photography can be the way we express ourselves, connect with others and also distract ourselves from the anxiety-riddled news stories. This is something very much brought to the surface by the Covid Pandemic.
The Book
The honesty and raw emotion that people have shared permeate the pages and – although we might be biased – we think this is an absolutely astounding collection of work.
Photography Through the Pandemic was produced by Hamish Gill/35mmc and was curated, compiled and designed by Holly Gilman. It is over 200 pages and is going to be produced on high-quality paper in hardback.
Photography Through the Pandemic Launches on Kickstarter on Wednesday 27th of October at 4pm.
The Kickstarter Campaign can be found here
Quotes
A quote from Holly Gilman: “My experience of the Pandemic was not THE experience. I wondered how this time had affected others. Have they spent endless days honing their craft? Have they found inspiration within the same four walls they’ve looked at every single day? Have projects been halted or even started as a result of social distancing? Are people expressing their innermost thoughts and feelings around the virus and the politics through their art? Or can they not even bear to look at their cameras at the moment? Of course it’s all of these and even more and this is why I wanted to make this book. I wanted this to be a broad and diverse range of stories. I wanted to ensure that we were mixing together the stories of different ethnicities, genders, sexualities and religions as well as mixing professional and enthusiast photographers.
I really feel that this is something that has been achieved in this book and I am just so proud and so honoured to have met and worked with each and everyone of the contributors.”
For more information, please contact Hamish Gill: info@35mmc.com