Calling all humans

Join us in participating in our new photo project #isolationphotoproject. We're going to give you daily prompts to help get those creative juices flowing. You don't have to be a photographer just have access to any kind of camera. Phones will do. Be creative or be literal but take a moment from your chaotic day to engage with the spaces around you...see it in a new light (this is a pun, I promise).

Check out our Instagram 'Stories' for some tips and creative advice for each prompt. We will feature your photographs on our Instagram daily (and credit you) and also collate every image to our online gallery.

It is FREE to participate. We just want to stay connected with our beautiful art community. If this all goes well we may start a slide show in our physical window gallery for people in isolation walks.

Photos will be added to our digital gallery (AEST) every evening where possible

Happy day 30! Today we are looking at hands. Hands are the centre of all the things we do. They are also the centre of all of our current fears. We have new routines revolving hands and are missing human contact. Remember holding hands? 😭 Let's aim for interesting hand photos. Hands doing things, hands in protection...the spaces in which hands used to occupy. Keep it tame people, no late night hands. Remember your photo MUST be taken today or at the very least within this period of isolation.

Good morning to you all friends of the darkness. Today our prompt is 'In the Dark' so we want moody photos in darkness. Things living in the dark, things emerging from darkness. You could even approach the topic of being kept in the dark, missing information. Feel free to whip out all your witchy good times and culty cultures. DM us directly with your photographs and if you are using the hashtag the #isolationphotoproject remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom so we don't miss it. But also...do get some light today, it's beautiful out.

Day 28!!! Today we are doing portraits. Now we have already done self portraits so today we are going to try to photograph somebody else. To have a successful portrait try to share a moment, have them interact with the camera. This may be hard if you are isolating alone or with camera shy people. But don't let that deter you. We live in a digital age and are connected in lots of ways. But also a portrait means we are taking a photo of somebody, it doesn't necessarily mean it had to be a face. Find another way to represent the person in an image. 

Today's prompt is less conceptual. We're looking at 'Leading Lines'. Lines that direct the eye through a photo to an important point in the image. This might not be a line, it might be a road, a path, a light ray, an arrow, someone pointing... Can't wait to see what you create. DM directly, but if you are using the hash tag #isolationphotoproject remember to also @noir_darkroom so we don't lose your image :)

Carrying on from yesterday, today's prompt is memory. Memory and photography are very closely linked in photographic theory due to their nature of recording moments and histories, but also how those memories are skewed by the creator and the context in which it is viewed/remembered. Today we will allow you to submit a photo you did not take today but it must be more meaningful than 'I miss my friends' or 'I miss the Beach'. You can recreate your favourite memories at home and share with us something from your past. You can look at how memories are created, or how memories fade and change over time. It's up to you. DM your photos directly or if you are using the hashtag the #isolationphotoproject remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom so we can easily locate your image.

We've gone sappy because we all need to feel some love. We want to see the connections you have during isolation, whether it is those you are isolating with, pure moments of togetherness or how you are connecting with those outside of your physical space. Who are you missing? We want to see images that show how we are all in this together and connected by out actions and situation. But also how things are physically connected. Interpret this in any way. DM your photos directly and if you are hashtagging the #isolationphotoproject remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom so we don't lose your photo. Remember your photographs must be taken today or at least within this period of isolation.

Today's prompt is distance. So we are looking literally at distances and distancing. How far we have come and how far we have to go. Lengths and space. Social distancing vs physical distancing. Barriers, emotional distancing...generally feeling isolated. When working with distance as a space getting closer to your subject helps to exaggerate distance. Good luck, have fun and DM us your photos directly.

"Upside down, upside down" - Blackboard (Mr. Squiggle), 1997.

Easy prompt today. Life feels a bit upside down lately, so let's go with it. Whether your images are physically upside down, gravity defying photos or a comment on current life feels. If you've seen Stranger Things you could even go with the aesthetic of the upside down. Just have fun and keep in touch. DM your photos directly if you can as the hashtag #isolationphotoproject is filled with external projects now. And also @ us @noir_darkroom to ensure we see your images.

Fun prompt today. Colour Blocking. By that we mean everything in the frame should be the same colour. There can be different shades or tones of the same colour and slight colour variances. As long as the majority of your frame is one colour. DM your photos directly to us as the hashtag is filled with external projects. Remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom.

We're back with a new prompt! Today we are looking at lighting, just like day 1 where we looked at illumination and back lighting, today we are looking at side lighting. Play with natural lighting (afternoon light is good for side lighting) or artificial lighting. Torches, lamps and flashes are good. Strong light will give you more defined side lighting and create elongated warped shadows. Remember to DM us your photo directly as the hashtag #isolationphotoproject is full with all kinds of external stuff now. And remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom

It's black and white day!!!!! Black and white is an excellent way to learn how light works rather than relying on colour alone to compose your image. Your subject can be anything but we want well rounded full toned black and white images. Strong blacks, strong whites and a range of tones in between. To achieve this look more at light than your subject. Colours will render differently than you think so forget colour exists. Have fun! DM your photos directly as there is too much external traffic on the hashtag now. But if hashtagging use #isolationphotoproject and @ us at @noir_darkroom

Today we are looking at focus and shifting focus. So think soft focus and out of focus. Whether it is foggy or smokey or there is a barrier between the lens and the subject playing with focus can be a really great tool. When things are out of focus they speak of a struggle for connection and an influx of noise. So think about connection and the importance of your subject. Remember to take your photograph today and DM it directly to us. With lots of external projects jumping on our hashtag the #isolationphotoproject we are losing some entries and getting confused. So if you are hashtagging remember to @ us at @noir_darkroom as well to ensure we get your photo.

Today we are looking at negative space. So our subject should take up a minimal percentage of our frame and the rest of the frame should be visually un stimulating. So that our subject becomes the most important part of the frame. It doesn't mean you have to have a plain background or a solid colour. It just needs to be visually unimportant. You can always interpret negative space in other ways such as uncomfortable spaces or even swing to analogue photography and the negative. Have fun. 

A nice and fun prompt for you today. We want you to recreate the most cliche photos you are used to seeing on the internet. Whether it is on forums or somebody who just picked up a camera for the first time and thinks they are an artist. Think plastic bags floating in the wind...think naked ladies squatting in the forest. Think duck face and all dat bootie. Think influencers and the meal you are currently eating/not eating. But make it funny. We all need a giggle today.

Today we want to see something hidden within the frame. So something that is not so obvious that it takes a second look. This can be a suggestion, pun or irony. But also something literally hidden or disguised. Hope you are having a goooood Friday.

It's a hard prompt today! We're looking for quiet photographs. Quiet is not often something we associate with the visual, but it is very possible to have a quiet photo. Really look for still moments and emptiness, where everything slows down.

Today's prompt is Contrast. Photographically contrast means lots of dark and lots of light and not much tonal range in between. It doesn't have to be black and white to be contrasty. Lots of light helps to create contrast. You can also look at other types of contrast where things are the opposite of each other. Contrasting ideas, contrasting views etc... Remember you MUST have taken the photo during this period of isolation but preferably today.

Another day another prompt! Today we are abstracting bodies. To have a successful abstract image we don't want to know what we are looking at straight away. It should take some looking at to go, 'oh wow, that's a body'. To abstract try getting close, warping, pushing, pulling, stretching, bending. Try different lighting, try different framing. Abstracted body does not mean nudes. You can if you like but be respectful as there are kids playing along. It also doesn't mean it has to be a human body. Have fun!

Today's prompt is looking through. So we want to add a new dimension to your photographs, one where the foreground is not important but what it is leading to. If you have the capability of controlling depth of field this is a good one for you. You could literally point your lens through something hollow or shoot past something. But still think about what you are photographing and why. Try make your image tell a story. What are you looking past? And why? Have fun with it!

The first rule of movement is to never photograph sparklers in the dark spelling love...or fire twirling...please! But there are lots of other ways to capture movement. You can imply movement. Or that moment of tension before movement, where something is on the brink of moving. It's an interesting prompt in this time of stillness but lots of things are still moving around us. If your camera has slow shutter speed options that's another good way to capture movement, or even just focussing on what is happening outside our windows.

Time for some symmetry. Yesterday's was a bit more conceptual so we went with a literal prompt today. We want perfectly balanced photos. Find interesting ways to create symmetry, perhaps by using shadows. You can also consider symmetry more broadly such as symmetry in movement, think back to repetition. But also symmetry in ideals and ways of thinking. 

Today's prompt is 'broken'. A little more of an abstract idea today so interpret how you feel. We can look at the physical broken, things are getting overused and breaking during this time but we can also look at concepts of broken. Broken routines, broken thought patterns, broken ideals, broken structures. Not giving too many tips today because i want to see how you interpret the prompt.

Whoop whoop! It's Self Portraiture day!!!!!! Let's try to recognise the difference between a self portrait and a selfie and avoid mirror selfies with posing and the old MySpace camera angle. Most cameras (including your phone) will have self timer features. I want to see your surroundings, you in your environment. It's all about looking into the distance and looking longingly. Check out artists such as Cindy Sherman, Tracey Moffatt, Vivian Maier for great self portraits. BUT for those of you that are camera shy, find other ways to interpret the self portrait. Flash back to day two when we did still life. Find ways to sum up your identity in an image. Or find ways to warp and abstract your self. Check out Polly Borland for body abstraction.

Today are looking at things that are 'Out of Place'. By this we mean something does not fit within the scene. Everything else should make sense except this one thing or things. It could be as simple as a break or mistake in a pattern or an object placed amongst others in an unusual setting. Out of Place could also be a feeling or sense of being.

Texture today! Texture and lighting go hand in hand. Really hard lighting will highlight your texture and bring depth to your photograph. We want to be able to feel the texture just by looking at it. Again check your compositions. A good tip for composition today is to try an open crop. So this means we can't see the edges of the subject, fill the whole frame with the texture. We don't necessarily want to be able to identify what the texture belongs to.

Today's prompt is...Reflection. Reflection's are cast in many ways from all kinds of shiny surfaces. Try to avoid mirror selfies and mirrors in general unless it's creating something spectacular. Think windows, water and metallic surfaces. Try to use the reflection to add a new layer to your image and maybe look at warped reflections. You could also use the brief to mentally reflect on things such as time and current events.