What do these things have in common? Lao New Year in Harrison, tulips coming up, construction cones, PYC student protest collages, North Commons park, graffiti under Glenwood, bicycles—Nice Ride and other.
They’re all subjects of photos posted in the Northside365 project. Launched April 1 with no significant monetary expense or fanfare, but with seven digital photographers each committed to taking a day of the week, the collection unfolds at http://northside365.tumblr.com/
On the site’s “About” page:
Northside365 is a collaboration of photographers, amateurs and professionals, coming together to tell the story of north Minneapolis through a daily photo exhibit.
If you are interested in being involved please email ariah@ariahfine.com
This project was inspired by a similar one, Powderhorn365.
Ariah Fine and I attended a free training session offered by the Powderhorn group. He recruited photographers, others found him through notes in previous North News papers. It was agreed to test-run it for a month before making any major splash, but it showed up in a “Google Alert” almost immediately. So the word is out in the blogosphere or whatever you call it.
In the Powderhorn group, one or two of the spots rotate through guest photographers. If one of the regulars has to be out of town or is otherwise unable, they find a replacement, and the Northside effort will do that, too. I look forward to helping out in the coming months if needed.
In the Powderhorn group the amateurs started learning a lot about photography, started meeting to help each other improve, and at least one contributor is now marketing her photos professionally. And they developed a book and gallery exhibit.
Not that everything has to mimic Powderhorn. One last tip (other than “go easy on the chickens”) is that the photographers are reminded to keep up with what’s on the site, so that they don’t unintentionally repeat what someone else has done. There’s a lot to photograph in this geographically broad and diverse neighborhood.
We salute the photographers who are watching and capturing. We’ll give them more time to get situated before interviewing them about their experience.
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