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:   David Bean

“I’d trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday.”
― Kris Kristofferson

Nostalgia is a funny thing. No matter how old we are all, of us look back on our younger days with a certain sense of longing. They’re the “good old days” even if they really weren’t.

We don’t want to go back to the painful parts of our past, but we sometimes dream about revisiting the culture and environment; the music, fashion, sounds and smells that were a part of our upbringing.

I’ve lived in over 30 towns and cities, in 11 states and went to 6 different high schools. I’ve lived on hippie communes in the country and tiny apartments in the city. My memories of the past are varied and diverse. I often find myself longing to go back to South Florida in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Even though I was young, lonely and lost during that period, there’s a magic to that era for me that I can’t escape.

One day I had the idea to revisit the past through a series of photo shoots that captured the lives of youth/young adults in the U.S. over the course of 4 decades; the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s & 1990’s. My goal was not to just create a homage to these periods, but to make the photos look as if they were shot in their respective times.

I tried my best to keep all of the props authentic, even down to the Coke and McDonalds products used. I searched out and bought items online from eBay and when not available I printed out replicas and made them myself.

All photos were taken with a Canon 5D Mark IV and Profoto B1 and/or A1’s. I didn’t want to “cheat” and use film for these shoots. I wanted to show that I could re-create time periods using modern technology.

To see more of this project, 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 @SuzanneSeaseInstagram

Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it.  And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.

 

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