In the 1970s, when photography was first being seriously accepted into the academic and art historical canon, over two hundred photographers, editors, critics and curators were anonymously sent plastic Diana cameras from WE DO THE REST. Each camera included instructions to make and return sixteen images to the sender, with the promise of an anticipated exhibition. Many responded. The result: an extensive archive of letters, cameras and photographs, which provide an amusing and insightful snapshot of the experimental climate of the photographic community at this time. “WE DO THE REST: A Photographic Survey” was first exhibited at Ohio University by its organizer, Mark Schwartz, in 1979, as his MFA thesis.

Following my father’s death in 2014, I uncovered this extensive archive and worked with it for my senior honors thesis. Forty years after the original exhibition, my project assesses the photo historical nature and importance of the existing archive, and extends the original concept into today’s photographic culture. Interviewing the original participants, many of whom have gone on to become recognized artists, I discussed the images they made with the Diana, their conception of themselves and of photography over time, and the evolution of the photographic community. These connections bridged the then and now while acknowledging the absence of my father, forming the foundation of my thesis installation. The resulting exhibition included a selection from the original archive, juxtaposed with contemporary interviews, correspondence, videos and an artists book: a synthesis of memory (mine and the participants), photographic history (then and now), and the processing of grief (mine and the viewers).

The exhibition was installed May 4 - June 30, 2017 in the Atrium Gallery of the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University. This archive is currently being edited into a book.

2016 // 2017