The Art of the Personal Project: Beth Galton

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Beth Galton

Covid Diary

Like everyone, I struggled with the magnitude of the pandemic; how it insidiously spread and wreaked havoc everywhere it went. In March of 2020, as the virus swept around the globe, my world in NYC became my apartment. I knew that in order to keep safe I wouldn’t be able to access my studio, so I brought my camera home and constructed a small set next to a window.

My days began with looking at the NY Times and Washington Post online, hoping to find a glimmer of positivity. What I found were the maps, charts, and headlines, tracking Covid-19’s spread. Obsessed, I screen grabbed and printed them out to see how the disease had multiplied and moved, soon realizing that each of these little visual changes affected millions of people. The graphics were highly analytical, devoid of the emotional toll of those affected. It felt necessary to use them in my photographs, to help me process this devastating experience. ⁠

Eventually, images of the vast number of people who had died began to appear in the news. Grids of people’s faces filled the screen; most having passed alone without family or friends beside them. As the virus moved through the US, many of our political leaders refused to acknowledge the dangers that it posed creating devastation and death. The incredible loss and the politics of this period were incorporated into these photographs.

⁠This series began in March 2020 when NYC was the epicenter of the pandemic. It is a reflection of my emotions and thoughts through those dizzying 18 months. By photographing the recorded data,combined with botanicals, my intent is to speak to the humanity of those affected by this epidemic.Motion in the images was utilized to help convey the chaos and apprehensions we were all experiencing. Once assembled, I now see that these images have created a visual diary of this period, the politics of the time, and the way it has affected our everyday lives.

To see more of this project, click here

To purchase the book, click here

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APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world.  She has been involved in the photography and illustration advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999.  Follow her on Instagram