Thanks to reporter Paul Clark for his interest!

Here’s a tidbit:

Clark Mackey, who runs a small advertising firm in downtown Asheville, got the project idea from something he read online, about someone who put a disposable camera outside his office and invited people to use it.

“I thought that sounded neat,” Mackey said. “So I bought about five or six disposable cameras, and Jason Sandford (creator of the Day in the Life of Asheville project) had some, too.”

They secured them to benches and poles at Pack Place, on Wall Street, in the park at Eagle Street and elsewhere and put up signs explaining that the project was part of a larger project.

…
Mackey witnessed a lot of candid moments.

He watched people notice the camera, notice the sign, look back at the camera and read about the project. Then some of them picked up the point-and-shoot. Mackey thought they’d knock off a dozen shots, but people were as considerate as they were thoughtful about the photos they made — they took only a couple, then left the rest for other people.

“It worked great,” he said.

He’s been serious about his own photography since he received, two years ago, a collection of his family’s photos taken in the 1950s and 1960s in and around Houma, La.

When he got the slides, he was struck by the joy in his relatives’ faces. He’d never taken a picture like that, he remembers thinking.

The hope that he and others would and will is part of what inspired Citizen Camera, he said.

“We just wanted folks to see the beauty in the little moments in life,” he said. “Putting the cameras on park benches where people sit, we wanted them to stop and think about making a little beautiful moment.

“I think there is a lot of beauty around you, wherever you are. A camera is a good way to notice it. A camera when used well can bring out the best in life.”

We’ll have a table ready for some basic finger foods. We’re looking for folks to bring goodies - brownies, tiny sammiches, veggies, chips and dip. Something that’s no hassle and easy to clean up after.

If we can’t find a musician, can someone bring a little boom box?

Spread the word. See you there.

Posting the prints:

Tammy Silver and her colleagues have already begun printing pages for the mounting of your photographs. With the blessing of library director Ed Sheary, the library group plans to mount about 150 photos and put them in the windows along the library hall leading to the parking, and possibly windows out front.

Tammy said she expects that photos to start going up next week some time. She’ll let me know, and I’ll let you guys know. The photos will be posted for about one month.

This is a massive, time-consuming undertaking. Endless thanks to the library staffers for their support of Day in the Life of Asheville.

How you can help:

The library folks need window washers. They need volunteers to wash and clean old tape off the windows. They’ll let me know. It will probably be early next week.

The reception:

The library staff is open to us throwing a reception. They say nobody else has done it, so we’ll be the first. So we get to set the bar!

The library closes at 8 p.m. every day except Friday, when it closes at 6. So an after-work reception on a Monday-through-Thursday sounds good. We need to pick a date when the Asheville Civic Center doesn’t have a big event, because lots of folks park in the center deck and crowd the hallway on event nights.

The library will provide tables. No chairs. We probably need to focus on finger food - light and easy to clean. Drinks, but no alcohol, on county-owned property.

Music - a boombox? A local musician or two to volunteer, since we don’t have any money?

Wireless - the county is installing a localized wireless system. It looks like it will be functional by the time we get our reception together, so if people want to bring laptops to look at photos, they should be able to use the library wireless.

Clark Mackey

If you need help sorting through thousands of images, well, you’re on your own. Mostly.

Here is a helpful discussion for getting the photos uploaded, tagged, and contributed to the project: http://www.flickr.com/groups/diloashvegas/discuss/72157604580862365/

Need a link to the Flickr group? A link to all the DITLO photos on Flickr (not just the ones you are adding to the group)?

Sincerely,
Clark Mackey

Are you?

Last minute things which will mess you up…

1. Batteries. Charged? Extra ones?

2. Film (whatever that is… j/k Clark) lots of it

3. Sensor cleaned? Lenses ready?

4. Weird stuff. Change for meters, business cards, various camera accouterments (accoutermoux?) velcro… lots of velcro.

5. Destinations

6. Subject matter. Hey, we live in Asheville, we have loads of that, right?

Most importantly, go out and have fun and take pictures of it all.

The Day in the life of Asheville photo art/documentary project is this weekend and we want you to participate.

++Date and time: 12:00 PM (noon) April 18th through 12:00 AM (midnight) April 19th

++Location: Asheville, NC city limits or shoot inside the symbolic Asheville area (intentionally subjective).

++What: Photographers (YOU) make images of and in Asheville, NC for the benefit of all.

++How? You take pictures during the times above, upload them to Flickr with the appropriate tags, and submit them to the Flickr group. Local judges will select a set of images to be printed and displayed at the Pack Library. The images that make it to the Library exhibit will be donated to the Pack library image catalogue (digital versions).

++Deadlines:All images must be taken/exposed during the set times of the event. Images that you submit to the project must be uploaded to the Flickr site before 12:00 AM, midnight, April 23rd. Further details for the results of the judging and submitting your prints will be available on www.ditlo.org(and here) during the week after the event.

++Number of photos:Each participant can submit up to 16 total images to the DITLO group on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/diloashvegas/). This includes 15 images to be judged and 1 photographer’s choice that you choose for automatic inclusion in the print exhibit. Once judging is complete, photographers will be responsible for obtaining and submitting their own prints (8×10). Specifications for printing will be posted on www.ditlo.org (and here).

++Tagging:When uploading to Flickr, each photographer should tag each project photo exactly as follows (without the quotes).

Your 15 photos for judging:“ditloa2008submit”

Your 1 artist’s choice photo:”ditloa2008mypick”

Your photos in your stream that are from this event:“ditloa2008all”

++Captioning:Participants should plan ahead to include their name, a photo title and a caption on the back of their print photos for the library display. Your photographs will be donated to the Pack Memorial Library’s North Carolina collection and they would like at least basic information about what’s pictured. Please also put this stuff in the Flickr caption.

++Licensing: By participating in this project, photographers are agreeing to a “creative commons” license because the photos will go to the library. The library, as you know, lends material to anyone who asks - thus the need for a more liberal license to avoid copyright hassles in the future. You really are shooting for the common good on this project. Please apply a creative commons license to your photos when you upload them if possible.THANK YOU for your membership in the DITLO group on Flickr. Please invite your friends – all are welcome to join and participate this weekend.

Visit us on the web at www.ditlo.org or on Flickr at www.flickr.com/groups/ditloashvegas/Questions? Ask them on the public Flickr group.