LTLYM #28: Edit a photo album page

Learning To Love You More (LTLYM) is a web-based project comprised of work made by the general public in response to assignments given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. This week, I am going to tackle my first assignment, #28: Edit a photo album page. Here are the instructions:

Look through a friend or relative's photo album. Choose a single page that includes details that you find interesting. Take a piece of solid-colored paper that fits over the entire album page and cut one to ten holes in the paper that reveal details of the pictures. These details can be parts of people's bodies, their pets, a cake, a poster, anything you find visually intriguing. These holes should be small, just isolating the details, with holes that are the shape of the thing you are isolating (cake-shaped hole, tiny hole isolating just someone's head, etc.) Give your page a title that includes the name of the person who's photo album you have used. For instance "Erika's trip to Florida," or "Dave and his dog Walter at the Beach."

K and I will be visiting his parents for Memorial Day weekend, so I plan to complete this assignment using one of his mom's family photo albums. The LTLYM website is no longer accepting submissions, so I will just post my results here on my blog.


You might be wondering what drew me to LTLYM in the first place. Well, I've been loosely following the work of Miranda July ever since I saw her feature-length directorial debut, "Me and You and Everyone We Know." With its motley cast of characters (pictured above), each struggling for some sense of connectedness to the world and each other, this film made me laugh, cry and squirm. And it left me hooked on Miranda.

If you have not seen any of Miranda July's short films, I would recommend "How to Make a Button" and "Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?" They will make you think and make you smile. And if you like those, you should check out her website and keep your eyes open for a new feature-length film coming soon (in production right now under the working title "Satisfaction").

I have been meaning to do a LTLYM assignment for a while. Some challenge the participant to connect in some way with friends/family/strangers, while others are more focused on creating something tangible. All seem to be about having new and individual experiences - which ties in perfectly with sometimes a strange notion.