'Impossible' Project Interviews,  Alternative Mobile Photography Processing,  INTERVIEWS,  News

‘Impossible’ Interview with Meghan Davidson

We’re delighted to be working closer with The Impossible Project team as we continue to branch out and expand our reach with all things related to mobile photography. Analog post-processing of mobile images is becoming more and more popular and we’re going to make sure our readers are fully briefed on this very exciting development.

The Impossible Project is in many ways leading the way, but there is also a growing community of mobile artists and photographers experimenting with other analog post processing techniques in an attempt to make their mobile images stand out even more, in galleries, magazines and the like and we have viewed some outstanding images and techniques.

A good deal of my formal photographic training (many years ago) was spent in a huge college darkroom and it is an area that I’ve always enjoyed, I think you will too. I also had a very close working relationship with Polaroid built up through my years as Technical Editor for various UK photography print magazines/titles.

Today we are publishing the thirtheeth of a series of ‘Impossible’ articles (to view the others, go here), this time with Meghan Davidson, a Photographer, Psychologist and University Professor in Nebraska.

You can find Meghan at Flickr here and Twitter here

 

Meghan Davidson

‘Day 266, Fishnets Face’ – ©Meghan Davidson

“I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about it. In 2013, I decided to tackle a 365 project shooting self-portraits using only instant film from the IMPOSSIBLE Project. Even now, as I type that sentence, it still sounds like an insane challenge to consider and take on. And it was. Insane. And…I did it!!

‘Day 301 – Queen’ – ©Meghan Davidson

My journey in photography naturally led me to take on this epic project. I had been shooting many self-portraits during the year prior, and I was finding that my digital camera got more and more neglected as I shot increasingly more instant film each day. I wanted to challenge myself, to push myself and my photography creatively. Thus, 365 IMPOSSIBLE Self-Portraits was born.

At the half-way point, I remember feeling a combination of exhilaration and stress. I felt so very alive in my creativity, in my daily practice of seeing myself in a new way. But, I equally felt anxiety about developing fresh ideas and pushing myself in new ways each and every day. And then there were the frustrations of framing and focusing the self-portraits by myself, the difficulty in no remote shutters, the temperamental nature of the film in the extreme cold and extreme heat of where I live as the winter and summer seasons came and went, the juggling of time with working a full-time job and engaging in a time-consuming creative project. So many potential obstacles and challenges presented themselves during this year-long journey. But along with the challenges came incredible opportunities to push through, to persevere, to see what would emerge if I stayed the course.

‘Day 255 – Double Lights Universe’ – ©Meghan Davidson

I’m incredibly grateful that I did, in fact, push on and stay the course. Shooting self-portrait #365 felt amazing. I was giddy with joy and I felt so proud that I had accomplished what I set out to do. As an adult, our lives are simply not documented in the way that kids’ lives are today. I feel like I gave myself an incredible gift of self-portraits, photographs of me and created by me, that I will forever look back upon. But perhaps more importantly, this project gave me the gifts of self-discovery and self-awareness.

‘Day 349 – hide Eyes Inverted’ – Meghan Davidson

‘Day 202 – Tree-Mural’ ©Meghan Davidson

What first began as a photography journey has evolved into so much more. As the year unfolded and I shot self-portrait after self-portrait, a book began germinating in my heart and soul. Stories, feelings, and experiences from my life came flooding back to me as I took these self-portraits day by day. I decided I couldn’t ignore these stories, nor could I hide the intimate self-portrait work I’ve done during this past year. Thus, I’m currently creating a book that is memoir meets instant self-portrait photography. Although the photographs are shot, 365 IMPOSSIBLE Self-Portraits isn’t quite over yet!”

‘Day 287 – Heart Lips’ ©Meghan Davidson

‘Day 339 – Road Toward No Borders’ – ©Meghan Davidson

‘Day 195 – Double2-Seward’ Meghan Davidson

Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]