The Art of the Personal Project: David Banks

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:  David Walter Banks

Trembling Earth Statement

There is intrigue to the Okefenokee Swamp – a mystical energy that renders these well-trodden waterways terra incognita to the first-time visitor. In this photographic essay, I’ve injected fantastical visual elements into my documentary photographs, using in-camera techniques rather than post-production effects, to portray both the environmental and the spiritual significance of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The 400,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp is one of the largest intact freshwater ecosystems in the world and home to an abundance of biodiversity including rare and endangered species. Despite designation as a national wildlife refuge, North America’s largest blackwater swamp is still vulnerable. The refuge is protected, but its boundaries are not.

Trail Ridge is a geologic formation spanning the swamp’s eastern boundary, where heavy mineral sand mining for titanium dioxide has been repeatedly proposed next to the refuge. Environmentalists say that mining could lower the water table and lead to increased drought, greater susceptibility to wildfire, and the collapse of an entire ecosystem.

After a six-year effort by environmental advocates to halt a proposed mining project, The Conservation Fund stepped in to buy the 8,000-acre tract of land and mineral rights — ending the mining threat for now and safeguarding the adjacent wildlife refuge. Despite this major win, the Okefenokee is still at risk until broader protections are placed on the adjoining land and waterways.

Before embarking on this project, I believed that those possibilities alone should be enough to preserve this special land. Once I set foot there my thesis grew. If we allow for the destruction of this place, we lose more than its biodiversity; we lose a powerful, if unknown, spiritual presence.

I hope Trembling Earth captures not only what can be seen, but what can be felt: the unmistakable yet ineffably mystical quality of this primordial space.

To see more of this project, click here

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Purchase the book here

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

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