Hide and Seek

So my husband Charley and I watched this Joan Rivers documentary on Netfix a few months ago. Joan was doing this charity thing where she was going to peoples home and delivery food, Meals on wheels I think. Anyhow she took food to this lady mid 50’s who was wheel chair bound, legally blind in one eye and living with MS.  When they went into her tiny NYC apartment they were overwhelmed by piles of photos, stacks of boxes, rolls of film, and table tops covered with camera equipment. We soon found out this lady’s name was Flo Fox, she was a famous NYC photographer in the 70’s. 

Flo pointed to a series of black and white pictures that  filled her wall. She told a story of how she took a picture of the same drug store window for 29 years. The photos showed how the price of cigarettes had changed over the years. IT WAS GENIUS!  I was instantly inspired by this woman!! Her idea was so simple yet so powerful…

Her Genius sparked an idea in me, I wanted to do something similar… I had this idea to take a picture of something everyday and see how it differs from day to day. The first thought I had was to take a picture of the inside of the refrigerator, then I thought it would be better to take a picture of the outside of the refrigerator, then I changed my mind to the inside of my garbage can, then the floor-mats in the car, the kitchen sink filled with dishes!  I then decided I didn’t just want to focus on one thing, but I wanted to take pictures of a number of things! I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the possibilities, and my brain was running wild! So I turned to my husband. He is my best friend and the other half of my brain. He can usually refocus my attention.

We started to brain storm on the idea, he was so excited about the idea and was even thinking of ideas of his own! After a few minutes of discussion we figured out that I wanted to send a sort of message with my images. I was obsessed with photographing REAL life, not the pretty, but the everyday, the embarrassing stuff that you really don’t want to post on facebook. I’ll be the first to admit I like my house to look nice in the pictures I post. But who doesn’t! Everyone knows people are looking at the background, spying, trying to see what DVD’s you have on that shelf, sizing up your TV and comparing it to theirs, seeing what color your walls are or if you have dirty clothes laying on the floor! YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE! LOL We are a judgmental world and it’s just a sad fact!! I mean how many of you would be curious to see the inside of someones closet or whats hiding under the couch cushions! I want to! How fun would it be to see how people really live on a daily basis. I know it may seem odd but not to me.

I want to be vulnerable to criticism and show everyone that life is not that serious! I want to remind everyone that no one is perfect and we should never assume that a grem-a-phobe’s house is always clean (ps. I’m a germ-a-phobe) I want to…in  a way start a revolution! I know that sounds dramatic but that’s what I hope it will become.  My thing, is that I tend to see the potential things. I truly believe that even in the most unattractive things their is beauty! Maybe that’s why I love thrift stores and re-purposing things some much? I enjoy seeing things in a new way.

So here is the idea we came up with, First we thought of the Blog name… “Hide and seek” If you think about it, it’s a perfect title! HIDE…taking pictures of things that we usually hide or try and conceal from others. SEEK… well I think that has multiple meanings, seeking photo ideas, seeking a photo location, and seeking the truth. LOVE IT!

Everyday I plan on taking raw, real, unattractive shots. I want to start in my home, taking pics that I would never normally share. I have a few things in mind but of course want to hear any creative ideas you have! I plan on starting this adventure tomorrow. It will be 1 post a day for a year. It’s quite an investment but people do 365’s all the time, why not me!