On Curating Photographs: A Visual Journey

The Photo Geek in me is Dancing

I began my Flipboard Photography Residency two weeks ago and so too was the lure into the abyss of looking at photographs. Once I entered this zone, my obsessive nature took hold of me.

I gave myself a self-assignment to post a photo-a-day project on Flipboard Social, a platform within Mastodon. Ok, I know what’s going through your head.

What is she talking about?

Mastodon is a decentralized social network made up of independent servers organized around themes, topics, or interests — together, they are referred to as the Fediverse.

What makes it different from Facebook, Instagram, etc? I posed the question to Chat GPT and requested a simple explanation:

Imagine Facebook and other big social media outlets as giant malls where you can only talk to people inside the same mall. Now, picture Mastodon and the Fediverse as a network of smaller malls, each with its unique theme. The cool part is you can choose your favorite mall but still talk and share with friends in other malls, offering more freedom to connect with people across different spaces. It's like having a variety of hangout spots that are all connected, unlike the one-big-mall approach of traditional social media.

Now that it’s out of the way, let’s continue.

Since I was starting from a clean slate, I saw an opportunity to revisit the photographers who initially inspired me and, at the same time, explore the works of new and emerging talents. But that’s not all, I thought the search would be more fun and interesting to somehow connect each image with the next one even though they were not viewed side by side. The intentional approach provided me with a framework and a chance to discover a lesser-known image from a photographer’s body of work.

The idea of the sphere has been lingering on my mind again since creating the giraffe collage I wrote about last week. So I asked myself, What comes to mind as the first image by another photographer when thinking about a sphere? It was Keith Carter’s Bubble, 2003. I always believe that certain photographs withstand the test of time, leaving a lasting impression etched into my mind. This is one of those images.

Bubble, 2003. Photograph by Keith Carter

I was working at the Brooks Institute library when I first encountered his work. Each delivery of new monographs filled me with excitement. "Keith Carter: 25 Years" was in one of those stacks of books that required processing before it was made available for circulation at the library. As you can see in the book cover, there it is again— the sphere.

Afterward, I recalled another image that I saw not too long ago that could pair well with Keith’s Bubble. It was a black and white photograph of a boy behind a frosted glass. Her name escaped me but I saved an article featuring her work in one of my curated magazines at Flipboard called “Women: Photo Projects.” So, I opened the app on my iPhone and immediately found Amanda Tinker. This image is from her Small Animals series.

Gorgeous, isn’t it?

Untitled (Lunaria Annua), 2019. Photograph by Amanda Tinker.

Something diverted my attention and the next thing and knew I had wandered off into the internet desert. So, I pulled my focus back to the curation at hand. I was running into dead ends and finding the next image took longer than anticipated. I finally got up, rubbed my eyes, and scanned our bookshelves. Hmm, maybe Hiroshi Watanabe might have something that could work. He had a similar style as Keith and Amanda. I flipped through his book, “Findings” and voila, there it was waiting to be discovered. I was thrilled!

Santa Monica Pier. Photograph by Hiroshi Watanabe.

Ok, almost done. I needed two more pictures and arbitrarily capped it at 5. I leaned back on my chair and rubbed my palms together trying to scan my memory for another photographer. I remember stumbling upon Kathy Ryan’s book, “Office Romance” at Powell’s Bookstore during our visit to Portland in 2019. Kathy Ryan is the long-time Director of Photography at the New York Times Magazine and I’m a big fan of its picture stories. Using her mobile phone, she captured not just the quotidian details of her well-lit office space at the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times building but also some captivating portraits.

1:03 p.m., April 10, 2016. Photograph by Kathy Ryan.

The dirt streaks combined with the highlights from the windows across her building mimicked the small bubbles floating in the air from Hiroshi’s image. The visual connection is subtle but quite effective. Also, the presence of the hand emerging from the shadows in the middle of the picture echoes the hand in Keith’s Bubble.

Finally, I wanted to use the 5th choice as a pivot image to segway into fashion or portraiture for next week’s curation. On a three-month trip to West Africa, 18 students including myself met Malian photographer Seydou Keita in his humble abode in Bamako. He told us that all his negatives were stashed under his bed. I was amazed that they had survived the harsh heat for decades. It wasn’t until I returned to the US that I had the time to look at his work more closely.

Sans titre, 1959, Genève, Contemporary African Art Collection Photograph by Sedou Keita.

I chose this portrait not only for the gentleman’s intent gaze but also for his hand gesture. The floral background was also the visual connection to the circular glittery reflections from Kathy’s picture. Again, it’s not a straight-forward match but somehow, it worked.

Finally, just for the heck of it, I took all five photographs and laid them next to each other.

The photo geek in me is dancing!

If you are interested in joining me on this creative adventure, let’s connect on Mastodon. My handle: @stellakalaw@flipboard.social

Flipboard is where I curate two magazines that I started during the lockdowns. It serves as one of the repositories where I gather articles about photographers whose work I enjoy.

Behind the Pictures
Women: Photo Projects

I’d like to end with a heartfelt thank you to

Mia Quagliarello

for providing me with this wonderful opportunity! Check out Mia’s Queue where she features "secret agents of taste—real humans who love to make recommendations about what inspires them."

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As always, let’s meet each other in the comments section below. Share your thoughts on the image sequencing I've presented. If you had to pick from your all-time favorite photographs, which one made a lasting impression on you?

See you all next Sunday!