Show Us Your Community!
Community is a vital part of one’s identity. This ongoing photography project, organized by the Colby Museum Student Guides in connection to the current exhibition, Act of Sight: The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection, aims to encourage participants to see their community in new ways. In gathering a multitude of stories from the same place, the hope is to illuminate new insights about local surroundings, people, and places.
Share existing or new photographs with us—they can fall under the prompts below, or can be of a different subject in connection to the broader theme of your community. We’ll print out physical copies of your photographs for you, and you’ll have the option to either keep them or contribute them to a public collection of photos that will be displayed in albums, available to view in the Colby Museum lobby.
This project will continue through the end of Act of Sight: The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection. August 14, 2022.
How to Participate
Option 1: Send us photos from your phone or computer, and we’ll create prints for you.
Share the digital files of your photos with us, by uploading the image files through the form below. We’ll print up to five photos in high quality, full color glossy 4 x 6 in. and will email you once they’re ready.
Option 2: Drop off printed photographs to be included in our public photo project.
Already have some printed photos in mind for inclusion in this project? Drop them off at the Museum Welcome Desk any time during open hours.
Option 3: Borrow an instant camera
The museum has a limited number of instant cameras that you can check out for free on a first-come first-serve basis for a week at a time. To check out a camera, fill out the form to make an appointment to pick up the camera from the Colby Museum.
Photography Prompts
Not sure what to photograph? We’ve developed a few creative photography prompts to help inspire you, with accompanying examples of works from the Act of Sight: The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection exhibition.
Prompt 1: Two of a Kind
Several artists in the Tsiaras Family Photography Collection explore doubles and pairings—what it means to notice two of something and the relationships between those two people or things. Photograph your favorite couplings, whether it’s two people who have a special relationship, two objects that look alike, or two things that pair well with each other (like peanut butter and jelly!).
Arien Chang Castán, Untitled, 2011. Archival pigment print, 19 x 12 1/2 in. The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection, 2020.096
Prompt 2: Capturing Nostalgia and Change
Take a walk around your neighborhood and photograph a building, street, or physical structure in your town that has experienced a lot of change (new construction, changing business, new neighbors, etc.) or that evokes nostalgia or has specific sentimental meaning to you. How can you capture these changes with the way you frame/compose your photo, the lighting, the details you choose to focus on?
Harry Callahan, Wales, 1985. Dye transfer print, 9 x 14 in. The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection, 024.2020
Prompt 3: Finding Spaces and Moments of Peace
Where do you feel most at ease, peaceful, and/or joyful? Whether it’s being outside in nature, reading a book in your favorite sunny spot in your home, or enjoying the company of a circle of your favorite people, photograph that location or situation.
Ansel Adams, Untitled (Tree with Mountain Scene), n.d., silver gelatin print, 4.5 x 7 in., The Tsiaras Family Photography Collection, 006.2020