Monday, September 26, 2011

The Burning House Project

I subscribe to The Anthropologist, which is an online space that supports the work of inspiring individuals, brought to you by the people behind Anthropologie.

Their website states: we expose those who move us in order to move you, knowing that sharing creativity in turn kindles it. 

I wholeheartedly agree.

Recently, it was Foster Huntingtons' photographic work that was delivered right to my email box like a fabulous present.  As I read through the explanation of Huntington's piece I was fascinated by the genius simplicity of of it. 
Photograph items one would save if their house was on fire and they had to leave.  As you read though his work you will notice that he has grouped the 20 participants by age starting with the youngest.  Huntington says, the "20 contributors illustrate, the definition of the word "irreplaceable" is quite subjective, and shifts considerably with age".  A true statement indeed and a brilliant organizational idea.


After about a week of thinking about this piece and what I would save, I decided to ask some friends to help me document our own Burning House.  So I contacted a people you may know like Vicki, Mou, and Sande and some that you may not... people I have only met through this blog, and then others that live on the other side of the world.  What would we save?  Will it be similar?  Different?  Well, you'll have to follow along this week to find out the answer as we explore our own "Burning House".

Your assignment for today is to take the time to look through the original photographic series by Foster Huntington here.  Note: If you place your cursor over a photograph the list numbers are highlighted.  I didn't figure this out till the end and it would have been helpful when reading about the items the first time around.  I hope this project is as thought provoking for you as it was for me.


Again, thank you to Mr Huntington for his excellent piece, bravo.
And we'll see you back here tomorrow for our first installment of The Burning House.

paula

4 comments:

  1. I stumbled across that last week. It's beautiful, fascinating and funny. My favourite was the guy who would save 'his ass' lol

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  2. I ran across the Burning House a few months ago and it has inspired me to get a small scrapbook together that I could grab in case of fire or disaster. I decided they would hold my most favorite photos of family and friends. Looking forward to your posts this week and see what you all come up with! I'm a big fan of your blog and art. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me!

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  3. Kybarb has a great idea. Although my family photos are backed up on my computer, photos of friends are not (at least photos I didn't take). I think I'll do the same. Thanks for the suggestion kybarb!

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  4. Love this--I have thought of that over the years. Pictures always come to the top of the list. BUt I have so many albums......it would take a wheelbarrow to get them out of the house. ksh

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