I was chosen to be one of the featured photographers in Philly’s Slideluck Potshow this past Saturday night. These shows are held in cities around the world, and each participant has to create a slideshow of their work and choose a song to accompany it. It’s a really good way to expose yourself to the work of many photographers in one shot, and since it does include an actual potluck, it’s a good way to network, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I decided to submit a selection from my Crime Scene Project, and what do you know, it was chosen by the curators. I’m always a little wary when I submit work for a show that’s not subject matter specific. I mean, if the call is for self-portraits, then I know I’ll be safe if I submit something from “a gallon of gas and a match.” But some of my favorite projects... Well, I’m just not sure how they’ll be received by people other than myself. (Naturally, I think all my work is pretty damn awesome!)
And as I watched the slideshow, (my work was towards the end of the second set), I started to feel a little bit nervous. Most of the work seemed to fall under one of two umbrella categories, that of “moody landscapes” or “down and out in ____.” (Fill in the blank at will, although it seemed to be the consensus that middle American may not be all it’s cracked up to be.) Not to say that there’s anything wrong with these types of work, in fact, there were some stellar photos in the bunch, but my crime scenes are so different from the rest of the work that was chosen. I had to remind myself that I was, indeed, actually selected to be in the show.
During the intermission before the second set, the Slideluck Potshow organizer came over to introduce himself. He told me that my work and the work of one other woman were the only two bodies of work that all of the curators backed wholeheartedly, that we were definite ins, no discussion necessary. That made me feel more at ease. And it made me feel pretty good about my work. As I mentioned earlier, quasi-jokingly, I truly like all of my work. And as a compulsive photographer, I’ll just keep making it, regardless of how it’s perceived. But it is nice to hear that a panel of higher-ups in the photo art work all agreed that my work was worthy of inclusion in this show.
When my work came up, I heard a few giggles in the audience at the first slide. Odd response, I thought. After that, though, all I heard were a few intakes of breath, and I could’ve sworn I saw a woman in my row averting her eyes. No awkward silence when it was over... There was polite clapping, just like after all the other slideshows. I wish I could really know what they all were thinking, though. It seems that nervous giggles and polite clapping aren’t the proper responses for this particular body of work. I know that they’re just staged scenes, but I look at them as being real, and I guess I feel that the same sort of reverence that would be shown for a real crime scene or dead body should be expressed when looking at my images. Interesting... This is the first time they’ve been on display, and I’d never thought of how I feel they should be perceived before...