Sometime over the weekend you will see the ‘introductory’ statements of both Abi and I. And then on Monday you will see our first photos from our year-long project: 52 Weeks.

Excited? We are. And a little nervous.

For more info on Abi, to tide you over until she introduces herself, check see her Flickr profile or her Etsy shop.

For more info on Sebastian, until he too writes something, there’s an ‘about’ page on his blog!

Cheesy ‘project logo’ to follow tomorrow!

I know it looks like we’re related, but we’re not, honest. We’ve never even met — that’s how good my Photoshop skills are. We’ve now ‘come out’ on Flickr and so far it’s received a good response…!

And now a little introduction from both of us:

Abi

Having recently completed an erratic and rather stressful 365 self portrait challenge, my initial feeling was that I did not want to pick up my camera again for a very long time. It is very easy to let days and months pass by, only recording the really significant occasions, but a daily project can take this to the other extreme. It becomes a chore to present yourself every day, being both photographer and subject is as limiting as it is liberating.

One thing I really found valuable however, was having to think creatively on a regular basis. It was this, combined with the urge to be behind the camera a little more, that inspired me to begin a 52 weeks project.

I will not be embarking on this one alone!. I will be collaborating with my friend and sounding board Sebastian (go say Hi on Flickr). Each week we will pair our images here on the blog which will document our year. I should also probably mention that we live almost 200 miles apart and have never met. We hope the emphasis this year will be on quality, rather than quantity and are just as interested as you to see which direction this takes us. We plan to upload to our respective Flickr streams and the blog every Monday!

As Seb said himself: “This could either be very, very good, or diabolical”. I couldn’t agree more.

Seb

And so here I find myself starting a year-long project. Similar to the infamous 365 project but with more variety, less narcissism and, if we do it right, the potential to a really wild ride.

I’m Sebastian, I’m 25, I’m a photographer. I’m the one on the left of the photo. When I’m not taking photos I’m usually writing stories or playing video games.

She’s Abi, she’s older than me (it’s OK if I don’t give a lady’s age, right?), and she’s an artist. A fantastic artist that paints and makes dresses and other pretty things. In the photo above, she’s the one on the right.

And together… this will be 52 Weeks of Abi & Sebastian!

Every Monday, from August 31st 2009 through until August 2010, Abi and I will upload a photo. It might be a landscape or a portrait, or even some kind of dubious ‘interpretive modern art’ — we don’t know yet. That’s part of the fun! We may grow to like each other, or hate each other. Themes in our photos may appear and disappear. We’re both creative artists so if all else fails it should at least be interesting.

You can follow us on Flickr or here on the blog!

Useful Links

Abi’s Flickr and Abi’s Etsy shop

Seb’s Flickr and Seb’s Etsy gallery

Sticky Fingers & Taurus

Abi: I went out to try to find something local and interesting as the basis for my first image in this project and came up with nothing. Beautiful as the Devon countryside is, it is hard to be inspired when it is dark and drizzling. Looking up at the gathering clouds, I decided to go home and give it up as a bad job. I was climbing over a gate when I spotted, just above my head an amazing, untouched crop of Blackberries. I must walk this lane 3-4 times a week and its amazing how we can look but stop seeing. Proof indeed that you can find good things in the most unexpected of places. Sort of sums up this project really so I guess its apt for my starting image.

Note to self: look up more. Tall people like Seb must see so much more.

Seb: The original plan was to ‘welcome’ you to my little corner of the world in Sussex, with the tried-and-trusted ‘Welcome to…’ village sign, with the beanie baby casually hanging from it.

But it looked a bit shit. So I went sunset chasing instead! And found a lovely view over a gate and across a farm. Unfortunately it’s not a cow farm; that would’ve been neat! We do get all our eggs from them though!

Why the beanie baby? Well… I have a few stuffed toys! Not many people know about them. Only the few people that I let into my bedroom — and those friends and lovers are few and far between. And I guess you too now!

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Click the images to visit our Flickr streams. You can comment either here or there!

They’ll name a city after us & Easier than it looks

Abi: One thing that irks me about humans, is that some of us tend to think of things in terms of limitation as opposed to possibility. We think of millions of reasons why we can’t, shouldn’t or wouldn’t. We devote so much time to this reasoning that we fall into a pattern and begin to apply this way of thinking to almost every element of our lives.

We limit and restrict ourselves to such a point that we forget to see, we forget how to feel and we no longer entertain the idea of letting go. We miss opportunities and let things slip through our fingers.

The second image in my 52 weeks collaboration with my dear Sebastian.

Partly inspired by his love of all things sky “They can make or break a landscape, Abi” (something I have not attempted to photograph before). And parly musing on the topic of greatness and potential.

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Seb: Obviously influenced by Abi’s 1 of  52, I’m being rather experimental here. I’m not a self-portrait master by any means — I don’t even have a remote for my camera!

So this is a 10-second dash and the hardest I’ve ever had to do. It’s REALLY hard to balance a blackberry on your nose when your camera is ticking down… Needless to say, getting the blackberry into the 1-centimetre plane of focus was also fairly difficult…

Why black and white? The colour version is actually quite nice but B/W made the blackberry pop right out. The incredibly-narrow depth of field is also a little distracting in the colour version. Incidentally, the larger version is well worth seeing, for the detail of my beard and the blackberry if nothing else!

(As a blog-only treat, here’s an outtake of the blackberry rolling off my face… I believe my mouth is starting to form the words ‘Oh shit’…)

Anyway, it’s now blustery and chilly here in the UK and I think the next few weeks will take a look at the beginnings of AUTUMN! (Fall, for you Americans.)

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Click the images to visit our Flickr streams. You can comment either here or there!

The Leaf Ninja & ‘Yes, they’re real’

Seb: Oh, look, it’s a… a… er… SOMETHING! Hiding in the trees!

The original concept for this photo was to have me laying on the ground, my face covered in leaves, with just my eyes visible.

Turns out the big-leaf trees aren’t shedding yet. And covering a head the size of mine in beech leaves is pretty hard…

So I did the only thing a man can do in such a situation. I rubbed leaves into my hair and torso until I looked like a tree! I’m topless, but sadly you can’t see — you’ll have to trust me that I looked very ‘Tarzan’.

And ta’da… stealthy, leaf ninja!

The ‘look’ is meant to be kind of ‘I could kill you with just my thumbs.’

But Abi thinks it looks more ‘creepy stalker in the garden’. Hmpf.

If you’re bored with the tree theme: I have a feeling that next week will be wildly different.

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Abi: I remember seeing makeup similar to this on a fashion shoot a while ago and always think about it. This is a play on nature versus natural beauty and how we try to emulate what is natural, often by the most false and synthetic means.

Incidentally, my eyelashes are really quite freakishly long. They are the first thing people comment on when they meet me and probably the most commented upon aspect on all my flickr photos.

In the words of Sir Walter Scott: “What I have to say is far more important than how long my eyelashes are.”

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Click the images to visit our Flickr streams. Feel free to comment here or there!

Untitled

Caption contest!

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You can visit either Abi’s or Seb’s Flickr stream to see what other captions people have come up with!

Blue Skirts & Doggie Style

Seb: Finally, a return to stage photography! Unless you’ve looked through the archives, you probably haven’t seen any of my theatre photography — maybe a little live music stuff from the Faroe Islands, but I think that’s it.

I should probably just tell you now… stage photography really is my favourite kind of photography. The lights, the acting, the actors — they all combine into such a dynamic, aesthetic canvas. I long to take more photos like these; I think I’m good at it… so now if only someone would hire me…!

This photo itself isn’t perfect — the composition is way off. But I chose it for this week’s photo because it tells a fun story. And because of the hair — look at the HAIR! The colour is delicious, as are the facial expressions. Look at those two perfectly bent arms in the top right corner!

Anyway! That’s enough gushing for now. There will be more photos tomorrow from the same show.

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Abi: I did have another shot planned for this week, I’ve been in London and all the Christmas lights are up and its all pretty but kind of melancholy, as it can so often be in cities at Christmas. However, all plans went out of the window when I met this little guy sitting outside Chelsea Town Hall waiting patiently for his master to come back.

If I were in the practice of canine theft he would have come home with me, but as it is I just had to settle for a photo. My friend Chris will testify that he was doing the best loyal, beseeching look which I think I managed to capture quite well. And now I really want a dog.

Woah, week 15. Every week we go through the same dance, I appear on Sunday evening only for Seb to pop up and harass me for not writing my weekly blurb. Sometimes he makes me want to kick something, he really does.
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Click either photo to visit our Flickr streams for comments, notes and other bits and pieces.

Ta’da & Snow Drama

Seb: Believe it or not, it’s 4:15am in this photo. That’s not dawn either — that’s light from a city about 10 miles away. The colour itself is light pollution I think (though remember, this is long-exposure, so it wasn’t THAT orange, but definitely a bit orange). Look how still I held my arms for 30 seconds! (I’ve had a lot of practice over the years…)

I’ve been waiting all week for the perfect conditions for this photo. I bet you’ve never seen a landscape like this before… and neither have I!

The snow continued after this photo, and we’re currently under about a foot (30cm) of snow. There’s been snow on the ground for two weeks now — the coldest and snowiest winter in history I think, or certainly since I was born. And get this, our heating is broken because oil doesn’t flow well when it’s cold. Wonderful.

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Abi: Whenever I look at this I am forcibly reminded of one of those Greenpeace ads involving a clubbed baby seal. Maybe it is the Panda hat, it gets a fair bit of attention and not in a good way.

Anyway, as you may have gathered, the UK is experiencing conditions which we as a nation are simply not equipped to deal with. Our transatlantic chums must bear in mind that when it snows, or excessively rains, or gets a bit warmer than we were expecting, our entire country grinds to a halt.

We simply don’t get much practice in dealing with any extreme weather and so, when it does happen, we either pretend it is not happening or battle on with the kind of camaraderie last seen during the war years. That’s what we Brits do, we queue and PANIC BUY.

The original concept for this shot did not involve me at all. Put simply, my friend flatly refused to lie in the snow for any length of time which is why I ended up doing it. This project may just kill me yet.

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For smaller versions, but with the addition of usually-hilarious comments on Flickr, click the photos.

Dude, where’s my pant? & Home & Away

Seb: On Thursday I am off to Norway. This is both my homage to Norway (wool socks! water proof jacket!), and to a photo I took in 2009 before visiting the Faroe Islands.

I had originally planned to go without the sandals, but didn’t want to ruin my lovely (and over-priced) wool socks. They’re snowboarding socks! So here I am, in my Jesus sandals… …

As for the lack of pants — I don’t yet have any that are suitable for Norway. I need to buy some. (Yes, really, I’m not just getting naked for fun…)

I’ll be in Norway for three weeks. That means I get to add three, whole fjord photos to 52 Weeks!

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Abi: I set out with the intention of taking a shot that featured at least one or more of Bristol’s landmarks and I managed to get two for the price of one. This footbridge over the Avon, just along from Temple Meads station has, for the obvious reason, always been referred to as the Banana Bridge. Finally the council bit the bullet and painted it yellow and black. Behind me, atop the hill, are the multicoloured houses that are synonymous with Bristol, both of these feature in the opening credits of Skins (series 1), if you know Bristol at all, you will be familiar with at least one of these.

I know it looks deserted here but I actually took this at lunchtime on a Sunday when the bridge was pretty busy. I am strangely proud that I managed to get no people or traffic in this shot, though an outtake did feature a woman in red, carrying a mothers day bouquet, which was kind of appropriate.

Now we are enjoying (slightly) better weather here in the UK, I intend to explore the city and some old haunts in more detail. Get to know it again.

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Thighs or leather jackets your kind of thing? Click the images to visit Flickr.