This year, I said I should blog more, but with that comes the challenge of what to blog about. I also decided to cut down on my social media consumption/use so I can have more time to be able to do so (I declared this on my first and ‘possibly’ the last post on my Instagram feed). However, I still cannot resist the urge to check out Instagram and I come across some pretty awesome stuff, one of which has inspired this blog post.

The Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie 2020 “The Lives and Loves of Images” – an extensive photography exhibition curated by David Campany is happening from the 29 February – 26 April across three cities in Germany – Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg. There will be works from over 70 artists showcased in six museums, with talks, discussions and workshops events during this time. On their Instagram feed, they have been introducing participating artists by asking them to give ‘instructions’ to their followers. You take a picture with said instructions, you upload it on Instagram using the hashtag #biennale_instructions and your photograph will be posted on their feed.

Here are some of the artists (exhibition name) and their ‘instructions’ that have been shared so far:

• Peter Puklus (When Images Collide)  – Create your own, personal universe. You are the Sun.
• Jessica Potter (Walker Evans Revisited) – Take a photograph of a gesture.
  Take a photograph of someone walking away.
• Patrick Pound (Walker Evans Revisited) – As a record, the photograph is always a trace of something.
  Try taking photographs that are records of traces (from shadows to stains and remnants).
• Joshua Murfitt (All Art if Photography) – Make a photo where a subject is obscured.
• Sara Greenberger Rafferty (When Images Collide) – Make a picture without a camera (or phone) and do not post it.
• Antonio Peréz Río (All Art is Photography) – Take pictures of screens. More concretely, take pictures of pictures on the screens. Pictures that people are taking or pictures that you took. Focus on what happens on the screens and its formal and content connections with the world around. Focus on the foreground but don’t forget the background. Make a single photograph or a whole story with a sequence of pictures.
• Thomas Wunsch (Between Art and Commerce) – Find a photographic theme with care and passion. Then take a look at how other photographers have treated this topic in the past. Think about how you can edit this topic. Find a niche. Be different. Make it interesting. Attract attention. And don’t hold back. It’s your chance to tell the world something.

So, where do I come in? Well, I thought I should challenge myself and pretend for just one minute that I was posting on my Instagram feed. Why not take one of these instructions and share my own photograph using the hashtag #biennale_instructions and instead of posting it on my IG feed, I post it here?

I decided to follow Patrick Pound’s instructions –

• As a record, the photograph is always a trace of something.
  Try taking photographs that are records of traces (from shadows to stains and remnants).

This one resonated with me as I am currently working on a ‘Remnants’ series of photographs. Here I am sharing a photograph I haven’t posted on my blog before following said instructions.

Reflections of Syzygy in The Blue Room, 2019

If you were to follow any of the instructions, which one would you pick? Or, why not attempt this challenge with me? Link back to my blog so I can see which instructions you followed.

#PhotoChallenge

#RemnantsProject

#Biennale_Instructions