The Wall Project

We have a large, unfurnished wall in our living room. It is bare and white… oppressively so. We decided it would look better with some pictures on it, and the imaginatively-named result is The Wall Project. It keeps us busy, and brightens up the living room. Here’s how it works:

Mely assigns us a topic: City Life, Autumn, Humour, Happiness… whatever strikes her mood. Mario and I have three weeks or so to go out and shoot.

We reconvene, more often than not a few days after the deadline has passed, and Mario and I present our edits… no more (and no less) than 3 pictures. Mely is very strict about this… she’s well aware that left to our own devices Mario and I would happily spend weeks discussing the merits of every photograph in a selection of 100. We usually want to show off our latest pictures, but we’re allowed to present any images that have been taken since the start of the project, as long as we haven’t included them previously in an edit for another assignment.

Then begins the editing session… each of us defends our work, the others criticize, and then we vote on the best of each photographer’s edit. It can be a heated process, as we try to rally support for our favourite picture. Mely’s the one we need to convince, as she has the tie-breaking vote in the case of the call going three ways. Once a decision has been made, the chosen pictures are put on the wall, Mely assigns the next topic, and off we go again.

The Editing Process

Photograph by Mario Alessandro Razzeto