Image credit: Galymzhan Abdugalimov
A few months ago, National Geographic's photography blog Proof began publishing a series of posts entitled Artifacts. As they describe it:
“Artifacts is a series about physical items that have meaning to photographers in the field.”
I've come across a lot of "everyday carry" blogs over the years, but most aren't as engaging to me as this series. It's not like these photographers are doing anything fancy – in fact the posts are short and sweet – it's just that they happen to carry some very unique and personal items during their travels, and there are often interesting backstories behind them.
The only quibble I have with the series is that its focus (no pun intended) is a bit narrow. There are plenty of other people than National Geographic's photographers who own interesting things, and I want to give them a chance to shine.
With that said, I'm happy to introduce my own Artifacts series, which will take the same idea and broaden the scope of people involved. I've already invited a few of my friends and favorite creative people to share their collections with me, and I'm excited to share them with you too.
I really wanted to find a different name for my series so as not to step on National Geographic's toes, but I just couldn't find another word I liked as much. "Artifact" just feels so right, and it evokes some awesome Indiana Jones imagery in my head. (It may or may not also remind me of the old days when I played Magic: the Gathering...)
I'm hoping they don't mind too much, since a) I'm a comparative nobody, and b) I think these kinds of posts are supposed to be all in good fun, rather than something to be taken super seriously. That being said, I can always change it if they decide to make a fuss.
Anyway, I plan to start publishing some of these very soon, so stay tuned.
