Photography with a side of text

https://www.flickr.com/groups/essexmasque/


My original idea was to hunt down all the photographers in Windsor / Essex contributing to Flickr who were also providing some sort of written context of the shot, and then jam them all (with their permission of course) into a Flickr group. There are a few of course, and I also thought I could encourage those who were not doing it to start. This is a bit harder, but still possible.

Of course the audience size is a huge challenge, and really you need some momentum to get people to join anyway. Would you rather join a group that had three members, or three hundred?
This seemed a bit silly after a little while. I started "Pictures with a Story" in January of 2014 and was lucky enough to get a great shot of the huge stone cross on Windsor's riverside as the foreground, and the Ambassador Bridge as a background, with a great story of being harrassed about taking pictures of the bridge that accompanied it. I got this, but little else. The low numbers and global feel of Flickr inspired me to look further afield, digitally speaking, for those who like to write about the work that they do.
Since those humble beginnings I continue to see humble numbers and contributions, but am thankful for each of the 151 photographers and storytellers who contribute to the group, and each of the 1300 photographs and stories that have been shared.
There are stories about camera angles and lighting techniques, stories about timers and running across subway platforms to get the self-portrait, stories about African fauna and Canadian flora, stories about work getting in the way of demanding compositions and road trips, stories from South Africa and Morocco and Windsor and Toronto and ... well you get the picture (pun intended).
And people have been incredibly appreciative of the idea behind the group. Not all have thanked me for the invitation and starting up the group, but those who have say that they are never sure whether people are reading their written work, or whether they care. The opportunity to take a little more time to look at a photograph, to learn more about it, and to at least get a brief, paragraph experience of a "stranger's" life may only be appreciated by a small minority of Flickr users - as compared to a majority of flashing, moving awards, and favourite / view hoarding - it is nice to provide a small niche of storytelling in this vast photograph album.
You can consider this post to be an invitation as well. Feel free to visit the site, or any of my other social media presences where you can share your stories and photographs and whatever else, whether you be Windsorite or any other '-ite' '-an' '-er' you may happen to be.
Twitter: @EssexMasque
Facebook: www.facebook.com/essex.masque
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/146120-the-essex-masque-an-anecdotal-journey-through-windsor---essex