a labor of love; the art of communication and collaboration

If my art practice has taught me anything, it’s that a truly solitary pursuit fails to fulfill. When my creativity can only build walls between myself and other people, it becomes a destructive act. Engaging in this type of praxis can construct a room around us; keeping out trust, community, and love. The hardened state of the world has me thinking about all of these things, especially love. I can list a number of its descriptors: patient, kind, weapon. But I have never learned how to describe art making’s relationship to love and care.

For years I have been guilty of enjoying the isolation that my art brought me. Instead of making an effort to participate in a community of artists, I made a habit of maintaining a healthy distance. I let my art build walls, which are good for hanging a photo or two, but don’t get me any closer to the meaningful connections I desire.

When I meet with Ross Mantle on Zoom in late December, I’m not sure what to expect. We had only been introduced through a short email sent by my professor, Aaron Turner, who thought that we could have

“a productive conversation around pictures.” This isn’t uncommon, especially when you’re in graduate school. But the message I received from Aaron was different from my previous inbox introductions. He went a step further, describing specific similarities in how Ross and I approach presentation and web design. It was clear that our meeting wouldn’t be a random encounter, but a curated connection.

For an hour and a half Ross and I talk about how he arranges photos, the latest version of his book, and what I’m thinking about for my upcoming thesis. The ebb and flow of our thoughts feels very ordinary. Easy, even. Occasionally a dog walks into Ross’s studio or we need to take a quick bathroom break. Everything that happens in this virtual space has a sweetness to it. I get to witness another artist as human through my screen. I can tell that in this instance, we have no expectation of the other. We’re just two people having a conversation.

Artists need other artists. Somewhere deep down, we know this. But we are taught to see each other as something distant; as competition. And this is how we lose our love: when we turn our desire to be better into a wall. Or worse, a pedestal.

I don’t want a pedestal. I want the love back.

Love, in its endless forms, cannot be experienced unless it is given away. When artists create, we do so with love in mind (whether it’s at the front, the back, or anywhere in between). Every photograph, every drawing, and every poem are evidence that we care about something. Collaboration, then, is evidence that we care about each other. To get the love back, we have to make it together.

-Nick Norman

AMENDMENT:

As an introduction to a labor of love, the original publication included an essay about what gets in the way of connecting with others: ourselves. Every individual, artist or otherwise, is a complicated and flawed person navigating the world. Because of this, any community is bound to encounter times when we are disappointed, outraged, or hurt by one another; when everything that brought us together is called into question.

As a group of nearly 60 participating artists and collaborators, our collective commitment to each other was challenged when we learned that a previous collaborator made racist comments to a member of our photographic community. In a moment where we sought to celebrate collaboration and care, this behavior had completely undermined our message. We made a number of decisions in the following days and even planned to cancel this project entirely. But discarding the hard work of so many artists was in conflict with our mission, too. Instead of figuring it out on our own, we turned to our community. We held meetings, asked each other questions, and found a way forward together. This book is in your hands because the participating artists committed to caring for each other; to holding one another accountable; and to the constant pursuit of something better.

Each copy of a labor of love has been amended to address the concerns of our community; through the inclusion of this letter and the removal/redaction of the platform associated with our previous collaborator. Additionally, all profits from the sale of the publication will be donated to Photographer’s Green Book.

AFTERWORD

Communication of any kind is an imperfect act that must be handled carefully. Even then, there’s no guarantee that a discussion will clarify fully. Visual communication is even harder. There’s overlap in interpretations but never enough to anticipate the understanding required for a precise exchange. Images are too personal, too interpretive, too much is left to subjectivity and individual experience to be a reliable form of sharing truths and clear intent. It’s an inspiring and terrifying form of exchange; subject equally to wondrous interpretation and manipulative dissemination. It requires collaboration to be understood. Photographs need to be open-ended in order to sustain a conversation. They need to meander, observe, note, and leave space for questions to be contemplated later.

A verbal exchange about art and practice should lack clarity. The discussion needs to wander. From time to time the participants should cross paths, speak in parallels. To be constructive a conversation needs a cadence of half-steps and leaps, fingers pointing to the distance, and eyes looking to the periphery.

An idea can be exchanged even if it doesn’t quite fit into that space in that moment. It might resonate later. It might leave us baffled. Amused. It might incite a different series of connections and the beginnings of new work. And if nothing else—or at best—it breaks up the confines of what is expected.

-Ross Mantle

Participating Artists in order of their spread’s appearance:

Brandon Foushee + Rana Young

Gabi Magaly + Rashod Taylor

Kyle Agnew + Leah Renee Monsour

Jesse Ly + Evan Perkins

Deb Choudhuri + Lauren Davis + Eva Alcántara

Sydney Ellison + Lily Holcombe

Dylan Everett + Zhidong Zhang

Ryan Frigillana + Natasha Moustache

Kat Davis + Frances Bukovsky

Jamie Ho + Paolo Morales