Forty over 40 on Film Photography Project
The project is now closed to new contributors! Please see below for the story so far.
"Beauty and aging are not mutually exclusive.
It's important to embrace the process and see the beauty in every stage."
- Peter Lindbergh
My wife and musePortrait of my wife on 35mm film
"Forty over 40" is a film photography project with a goal of recruiting forty women in their middle and later years who want to share their stories and experiences, and be willing to have their portraits taken. As I described in my blog post, I want to create something that will "educate, encourage, and empower", and I believe that this section of our society is often overlooked in the creation of art, but has so much to tell us from their achievements and life-lessons.
Over the next year or so, I hope to be able to create a publication or exhibition of the work, with the meaningful message that these women are to be admired and celebrated. Contributors will share in the success, and leave a lasting legacy of inspiration to others.
- March 2024 update! The weather is superb right now, and bookings are going out into April. I anticipate another wave of sign-ups about that time, and there will be plenty of dates available going into the summer. It's been a truly fantastic project so far, hearing about people's trials and tribulations, successes and failures. There are so many inspirational stories that we'll be sharing! It has been a humbling honor to speak to everybody, and a lot of fun to see how the photoshoots have turned out. Jessica kicked off the project with a brilliant photoshoot in Downtown Jacksonville, here making great use of the water feature in the Jacksonville Library courtyard as a backdrop.
- April update! The second round of signups is underway and I'm looking to diversify the look of the project as much as I can. I wrapped up the first quarter with a wonderful conversation with Enya, covering her globe-trotting adventures, her thoughts on the changes in women's rights in her lifetime, and her advocacy work for disabled veterans. Enya is a fan of arches, so we made sure to incorporate that into her photoshoot!
- May update! As the weather gets warmer it gets more difficult to plan outdoor shoots... some people are pushing their sessions out, and that's fine! I will be working on this all through the fall I expect, there's no rush. One advantage of the summer weather though is an excuse to wear something fun for your session! Scarlett brought a sundress and a bucket of confidence for her outdoor session in a park.
July update :-) We're fast approaching the halfway mark now, and the project is in full swing! I am STILL accepting sign-ups, but as we move into the busy Fall season session availability may be tight. I'm still blown away at the response to the project, and the staunch resilience of so many of the women who have shared their stories with me. More than ever, I am convinced that portraiture can be a powerful medium of self-expression and acceptance. Melissa here chose two different looks for her session - one casual, and the other classy. What looks do you want for your session?
August update - The hot weather has delayed some sessions, but interest in the project continues to grow! Several of you have purchased prints of your session, and honestly that's the greatest compliment any of you can pay me for the art we're creating here. This update's featured contributor is Sue, my mother-in-law. Sue was an immediate supporter of the project, and the first person to sign up (immediately followed by my wife!). She's also currently the oldest contributor! I would love to include more older women, so if you know of anyone in the 60+ range, please send them my way.
September update! Wow - what a journey so far! I figured it was easier to make a set of slides to tell the story!
January 2025 - Happy New Year! Having completed over 25 sessions in 2024, I am hopeful that I'll be able to finish the project this year. At the very least we should have all the photoshoots complete, and then it's a case of transcribing the interviews and working on the final write-up. There are still women who have signed-up who didn't book a session, so I'm going to be making another push for recruitment this spring.
Here's a shot of Dara from her shoot - in case anyone misses the warmth like I do right now!
Feb 2025 - After a surge of interest, I've closed the project to new contributors! I'm scheduling sessions through the spring, and taking advantage of the great weather we're currently getting. At the end of last year I had plans to do a photoshoot at the Cummer Museum and Gardens, but two storms rendered them unavailable through to December, and then it was too cold to comfortably work outdoors. However, I was able to get a session done recently with Dima, a Syrian immigrant and one-time software engineer, who now works as the Youth and Family Programs Manager at the Cummer Museum. Dima uses her own art to celebrate and immortalize her home country as she remembers it before the conflict, in addition to helping thousands of fellow immigrants acclimate to their new home in the US. Dima's story of struggle and success is the epitome of why Forty over 40 on Film was begun.
