Photography Projects/Themes/Series

A bi-annual photography festival in my home town has a socially relevant 'theme' for each festival year. Many other international festivals/exhibitions do the same kind of thing or something similar.

In my home town, the 60 invited and accepted (call for entry) photographers exhibit a selection of their photos. Most photographers probably exhibit the same (or similar) work at multiple exhibitions worldwide.

I also know amateur photographers who focus on projects/series: a collection of photo's that purposely expresses something.

The funny thing is, I've never (easily) found this Project/Theme/Series orientation on any photo-sharing site (or anywhere on the internet). Photos are always broken down by category (landscape, portrait, street, etc).

Has anyone found a website that is organized more by 'theme/project'?

Mike

In photonet's early days, when it was a more interesting, imaginative and thriving photography site, our individual galleries/portfolios had a section called PRESENTATIONS. There may be something similar today but, if there is, I haven't noticed it and it likely doesn't function well, like the rest of the gallery/portfolio side of the site. Anyway, many of the long-gone talented photographers who had portfolios here used the PRESENTATION mechanism to share various "projects" and "theme-oriented" work they were doing. It was a place photographer and viewer could discuss the themes or projects as a whole rather than the individual photos found in the portfolio itself. I had started a PRESENTATION on a project I've been working on over the years just about when PN2.0 was introduced and gave up because of how poorly functioning PN became on the photo gallery side and because I didn't see a way any longer to create a presentation here. I seem to remember that you could filter through PRESENTATIONS as an easy way of discovering the different projects people were working on. You could also invite other members (and non-members) to these PRESENTATIONS.

I've seen a few street and doc threads on PN in the last couple of years where someone has started a thread with a series of photos on a project or theme they've been working on, some of which have generated some interesting discussion and even follow-up photos by other members. But it's been pretty rare.

As social networking increases and the desire to discuss both nostalgic influences on and current info about gear seems to dominate most popular photography member sites, I'd look elsewhere for such project-oriented work.

Here's a site I came across recently that features a bunch of interesting conceptual photography projects, all of which I appreciate for their thoughtfulness, some of which I like better than others:

13 Favorite Conceptual Photography Series from 2014 - Selection and text by LensCulture Editors | LensCulture

I'm sure one can find more typical project suspects like "homelessness" and "drug culture" as well, but it will be harder to find a member-driven site that features such. If you do, let us know!

In photonet's early days, when it was a more interesting, imaginative and thriving photography site

I'm not so sure that is true. It is true that there was a good deal more snarking, sniping, and trolling.

Many of the No Words postings are themselves thematic, aren't they?

I'm not so sure that is true. It is true that there was a good deal more snarking, sniping, and trolling.

Don't know what to tell you. Seems to me to be the case. All it takes is reading through a bunch of Casual Conversations, Photo of the Week, and Critique pages from years ago to see that it was more interesting, more imaginative, and thriving years ago. Of course, this is subjective so mileage is likely to vary.

My thanks, @Uhooru! I'd never heard of Burn Magazine but - just by quickly browsing the site - this is is exactly the type of website that I had in mind. At my (amateur) level, it's more for inspiration and education than participation. But it's great to see so many different photographers/projects on one site. I really do like seeing 'thematic series' and what I learn form them is very different from incidental, one-off "great shot!" photos. In a series, I think much more about about why - given the wide range of choices - the photographer selected these photos.

Anyway, thanks again.

Mike

Burn Magazine, hosted by David Alan Harvey, is one such place that is sort of organized around thematic photo projects conceived by the submitting photographer. There used to be discussion around the projects, but I haven't followed them in a while.

I'm truly sorry to hear that PN lost many of its long term, experienced and active members as a result of the update, @The Shadow. I well remember the older (but somewhat 'clunky') PN site. As a sometimes 'change manager' and forum manager, I'm especially sorry that an IMHO long overdue 'technical upgrade' of PN resulted in such functional problems and unfortunately led to desertion by long-established members.

In 2013, I let my active membership of PN lapse because I felt that a) the site was for just too outdated and clunky and b) I was getting bored with the never-ending protracted discussions on everything, especially POTW. The main PN "quote" from that era that eternally springs to my mind is "Yes, but is it art?".

I really do believe that PN - under certain conditions - can still develop a viable and sustainable (including financially) niche in the market. I have no idea who's involved in the marketing of PN but my impression is that they are not doing as well as they could be doing. I would be happy to share my thoughts with them.

Thanks for your frequent and speedy responses to my various posts. I really do value your interest and willingness to share your experience.

Kind wishes,

Mike

In photonet's early days, when it was a more interesting, imaginative and thriving photography site, our individual galleries/portfolios had a section called PRESENTATIONS. There may be something similar today but, if there is, I haven't noticed it and it likely doesn't function well, like the rest of the gallery/portfolio side of the site. Anyway, many of the long-gone talented photographers who had portfolios here used the PRESENTATION mechanism to share various "projects" and "theme-oriented" work they were doing. It was a place photographer and viewer could discuss the themes or projects as a whole rather than the individual photos found in the portfolio itself. I had started a PRESENTATION on a project I've been working on over the years just about when PN2.0 was introduced and gave up because of how poorly functioning PN became on the photo gallery side and because I didn't see a way any longer to create a presentation here. I seem to remember that you could filter through PRESENTATIONS as an easy way of discovering the different projects people were working on. You could also invite other members (and non-members) to these PRESENTATIONS.

I was active on PN for a year or two some 5 years back and I seem to remember some long and "lively" discussions back then on POTW, requests for critiques, etc. Don't know about trolling but I guess there was more snarking and sniping in the "lively" discussions too. Anyway, water under the bridge and all that :)

Yes, many some of the No Words topics are thematic but in general, members post single photos that in some way related to a theme. I was interested in sites (like the Burn Magazine site and Lensculture) that might attract photographers who want to share their projects/series rather than single photos.

... It is true that there was a good deal more snarking, sniping, and trolling.

 

Many of the No Words postings are themselves thematic, aren't they?

@The Shadow: thanks for the Lensculture link. The site is exactly what I was looking for!

Mike