From "The Inevitability of Numbers" (Dakota Creek Shipyard)
For the past fifteen years or so, I have been creating photographic project folios of approximately ten to fifteen images. This size came about because it conveniently fit into the amount of time I had available to spend on my photography. I began to see projects in this particular size because I could complete them with the limited amount of time I had available to create my art. Because of the limited time I had for photography, I have a backlog of projects to do.
Now that I have chosen to be permanently laid off, I can spend even more time on photography. One thing I have found already is I am having so many different and interesting ideas for projects I have a another new job of documenting the ideas (so I don’t forget them) and prioritizing among the existing backlog of projects. Did I mention that once planned, actually following through and finishing the projects is also becoming an issue? I can get so distracted by the next shiny object that I tend to put aside what I am working on and pursue that new, shiny object. The need to maintain some project discipline is required so I don't have a whole pile of half finished projects.
The big question to be answered is should I be completing more of these smaller projects, or should I put more time into larger scale projects? Since the time I wrote the above, I have come to an interesting conclusion. It seems that the issue of how many images go in a project just might depend on how many images people can enjoy at one time. If you look at how we are being trained to look at pictures by the great provider of pictures (also known as the internet) we seem to be able only to consider a small number of images at any one time. If I had to make a judgement, I think that I have hit on a good number of images (ten to fifteen) if the project is going to be viewed online. People get tired of looking at pictures and so it makes sense to stop showing photographs before your audience gets bored.
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