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:  Todd Weaver

I counted audibly…one,two, three, clicking the shutter each time I got to five. I was standing on a mark I placed on the floor of my studio that I could not move from.  While my subjects could move freely, in and out of the frame  indicated by tape marks on the floor.  I did this 36 times continuously, equaling 3 minutes time.

This limitation is the foundation of my new book 36.

The idea came to me a couple of years ago after I bought an Olympus Half-frame camera made in the 60’s.  I became enamored with the black line in between each frame. I imagined the grid of 36 photos not unlike a contact sheet but different.

My subjects: 36 artists that are a part of my artistic community in Los Angeles. People I admire for their art, their humanity and their passion. Many of whom I have known for a decade.

The first person I shot for the book was my friend Devendra Banhart. Our mutual friend Mel Shimkovitz was over at Dev’s house during our shoot  and when I described what I was doing, she interrupted me by saying “yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re doing this whole John Cage thing.”  Using fate and giving up control to define the outcome.  Little did I know the outcome would be capturing my community, something I had been wanting to do for a long time.

The people in the book didn’t know anything about the limitation until they came to my studio. They only knew that it would be shot in black and white against a white wall.

I kept this project a secret for 2 years and I’m thrilled to finally share it.

Andru Sisson

Ariana Papademotroupolis

Devendra Banhart

Elena Stonaker

Eric Johnson

Jasmine Albuquerque

Mark Maggiori

Ryan Heffington

Zak Schlagel

To see more of this project, click here.

To purchase 36, 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 industry since the mid 80s.  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. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.

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