Documents From Our Friends

Hillbilly Heaven, Arizona, 1991. From John Samora

Long ago, when we were young and idealistic, my fellow photographers, editors and designers found ways to keep in touch, share work, and have a good laugh. Some came from distant places where one got a job or an internship, some we exchanged right at school. I guess the tradition began long before we got there, but I'm certain it ended there when there were no more prints to be made. I started collecting photo/illustration/art cards in my early 20's, and I have kept them all, along with the homemade cards made and sent by friends. I have told myself all these years: " I'm gonna do something with those someday." Now, if I can just find that one of the dead-bear-floating-in-the-lake Daniel sent me.

Now mind you we all have lamented the demise of the written letter, (long before the internet and email came along) , and my visual arts friends and I have whined about not keeping-up with our two fisted version of the letter, (visual and written). Synchronicity being what it is, the good folks over at benhästen, led me to Craig Oldham, whose brilliant idea is The hand.written.letter.project. Now, it's very late at night, and I'm known for being expansive and full of wild ideas at times. With that said, I think that Craig's project is a great lesson, and I think the possibilities are endless if someone were to apply his basic model to a visual/written document. The other twists and some of the fun and games from the old days would be the gravy.