APLCC January Monthly Challenge

Submitted by Ronen Grunberg on December 20, 2014 - 11:42pm

Hi Everyone,

I just want to thank all of you who came to the December 18 meeting for making the holiday get together so successful. Thanks to all who contributed to the snack table, it was very much appreciated. Thank you Deborah Barley for the fun Photo Puzzle Activity. Also, someone left behind a Cuisinart knife. So if it belongs to you, please let me know and I'll get it to you.

Just a heads up on the Monthly Challenge for January. Since we watched the film on Vivian Maier, this challenge is inspired by her work.

An important thing about Vivian Maier's images is that they focus on everyday life. Her street photography shows how fascinated she was with everyday things, (street scenes, portraits of people, interesting architecture, self-portraits, as well as random objects in the streets). She captured the ordinary moments of day-to-day life. As expressed by John Maloof, the director, curator, and primary caretaker of Maier's oeuvre “Vivian saw details that pass us by in everyday life.”

So the challenge for this month is "Everyday Moments" --- things that would generally pass unnoticed.

Here are some things to consider in creating an image:

Black & White -- Many of Maier's photographs were shot in Black & White. This creates a very different aesthetic than a colour photo.
Shoot from the hip -- The Rolleiflex camera favoured by Maier was not meant for shooting at eye level. It made Maier more discrete when shooting people on the street and gave the impression that her camera was "looking up" at her subjects.
Tell a story -- Many of Maier's photographs catch a situation or people in the middle of something. As viewers, we do not know what has come before or what happened later. It's in these "gaps" that the viewer finds the story.

Remember that your images do not have to duplicate Vivian Maier's, but are to be inspired by her aesthetic.

I realize that this is a "challenging" Monthly Challenge, but I think it will be fun and interesting to see what people come up with. Here are some links that may inspire you and help give you focus:

For those of you who would like the see the end of Finding Vivian Maier, TVO has the whole film online. Unfortuately, it will only be available until December 22nd, so you need to watch it today or tomorrow. Here's the link: