Upon First Meeting

June 29, 2006 9:13 AM

Upon First Meeting : RISD MFA student Jeff Barnett-Winsby takes photos of strangers who answered an ad on Craigslist.
posted by grapefruitmoon (45 comments total)

[ Full disclosure: I found the link to the gallery in a magazine, but I happen to know several people who participated in the project as I live in Providence. Oddly enough, the last man photographed is my downstairs neighbor in our stairwell. I am not a subject in any of the photos nor do I know this guy, I just think it's neat. ]
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:15 AM on June 29, 2006

Liked this a lot, thanks grapefruitmoon! It could be titled, "People and their stuff."
posted by carter at 9:18 AM on June 29, 2006

I really liked this too, thanks gfm!
posted by Shfishp at 9:29 AM on June 29, 2006

This is fantastic. Craigslist has helped me immeasurably over the years.
posted by ninjew at 9:31 AM on June 29, 2006

Oh great, another Ann Coulter thread!
posted by LarryC at 9:34 AM on June 29, 2006

Wow.
posted by Plutor at 9:38 AM on June 29, 2006

Customers who bought this also bought Juergen Teller's Go-Sees.
posted by gac at 9:39 AM on June 29, 2006

Great project. This is why I can't stand RISD peeps.

Rhode Island, The Land of Housewives with Stripper Shoes

people are weird.
posted by jsavimbi at 9:42 AM on June 29, 2006

These are excellent pictures, thank-you.

Since it took me a while to find, I thought I'd post this link directly to his explanation of the project.
posted by Flashman at 9:43 AM on June 29, 2006

I love this picture (arguably NSFW)
posted by thanatogenous at 9:45 AM on June 29, 2006

That was really great. Thanks GFM.
posted by arcticwoman at 9:47 AM on June 29, 2006

Cool link - I started with the page with all the photos, but I found it even more interesting through here where the responses are posted with the photos.
posted by mzurer at 9:49 AM on June 29, 2006

mzurer, thank you for posting the link with the models' initial notes to the artist! That makes the exhibition for me. The mundane banality of the email works well with the beautiful banality of the images. (Well, maybe the images aren't banal, but the "normal people with their ordinary houses photographed exquisitely well" thing is reinforced by the craigslist notes.)
posted by Nelson at 10:04 AM on June 29, 2006

That's not my craigslist. I wish it was. And it is much more interesting with the replies as per mzurer's link.

I love how contemplative and even worried many of the people seem to be. And more than a couple of people seem to be visibly disappointed there really wasn't any nudity or sex involved.

all the lonely people... where do they all come from?
posted by loquacious at 10:08 AM on June 29, 2006

This one really grabs me. There's something quasi-pornographic about the pose and the shoes. The setting and the way the model is dressed are utterly blah housewife. It's a weird mix.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:17 AM on June 29, 2006

Cool. I love how you see just a snippet of email and then the person.
posted by H. Roark at 10:21 AM on June 29, 2006

I love this sort of portraiture.

What sort of equipment do you think is used?
posted by sohcahtoa at 10:38 AM on June 29, 2006

Jeff shoots a Canon 1Ds mark II and uses Elinchrom lights to create his portraits. (From his site)
posted by lee at 10:40 AM on June 29, 2006

This is my personal favorite. And it sure makes me miss Providence. Nice post.
posted by dame at 10:41 AM on June 29, 2006

Those photos are really captivating. They seem so ordinary at first but then I can't stop looking. Really cool!!

people in Providence have really strange wallpaper.
posted by contessa at 10:43 AM on June 29, 2006

Thanks, lee.
posted by sohcahtoa at 10:49 AM on June 29, 2006

This is why Acquidneck Island residents have to get a passport and shots before they go upstate.
posted by yerfatma at 10:50 AM on June 29, 2006

This is why Acquidneck Island residents have to get a passport and shots before they go upstate.

Since when do people on Acquidneck Island ever leave?
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 10:59 AM on June 29, 2006

I've seen this one in a magazine somewhere. I swear. I can't remember where, but I instantly recognized it.
posted by shoepal at 11:10 AM on June 29, 2006

ah ha!
"art-school photography: Quite possibly the next generation of art stars, graduate students are a fabulous resource for quality experimental and affordable images."
page 70 of Domino Magazine
posted by shoepal at 11:13 AM on June 29, 2006

dame, that's my favorite, too.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:17 AM on June 29, 2006

Sometimes I find if I shout right before I take the picture I can get people's attentions. If he had done so we would have been able to see more of their faces.
posted by hal9k at 11:22 AM on June 29, 2006

really interesting photos! i like that they're not posed or even smiling. they feel more real that way.
posted by geeky at 11:33 AM on June 29, 2006

Hello!

I saw your add on the personals. I think that is sounds like fun to be able to help you out. I also think it would be great to have a memento of home as I will be moving to New Orleans in September. Get back to me with an e-mail.

Have a Great day.
I hope to hear from you soon!

Katrina
posted by sciurus at 11:36 AM on June 29, 2006

Since when do people on Acquidneck Island ever leave?

When they drive us out. Mass Bay Colony did it to Roger Williams, he did it to Anne Hutchinson and now here I am hours away, pining for a cabinet and grinder. It's a vicious circle.
posted by yerfatma at 11:59 AM on June 29, 2006

Rather enjoyed this one myself. Didn't seem as, well, strained, as some of the others...
posted by Samizdata at 12:33 PM on June 29, 2006

I really love this one. The dog peeking out from behind the chair gives it a candid quality which is what gets me.
posted by ooga_booga at 2:00 PM on June 29, 2006

Thanks, grapefruitmoon. I love the normalcy of the set. And yeah, definitely look at the photos through the link mzurer posted.

There are photos I like better than this one, but it really caught my eye.
posted by deborah at 2:24 PM on June 29, 2006

Yeah, Deborah, like one by one, all the people in that neighborhood started staring blanky, then decided to zombie-walk towards Where they think The Sidewalk Ends like its their Mecca.

Amazing post. Thanks.
posted by unwordy at 3:08 PM on June 29, 2006

A somewhat similar project (interview). Possibly NSFW.
posted by sad_otter at 5:16 PM on June 29, 2006

I posted about this in my LJ community (weird_ri). Almost immediately, people replied that they knew several of the folks featured in the photos. So there's proof that its a small world, and an even smaller state...
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:24 PM on June 29, 2006

Jerri Blank?
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:53 PM on June 29, 2006

Best Chair
posted by doctor_negative at 7:44 PM on June 29, 2006

sigh

A friend just forwarded this, and I raced to Metafilter to post it. I'm only thirteen hours too late...

Awesome stuff.
posted by jdroth at 10:19 PM on June 29, 2006

I think I'd like it better if the people were crying.
posted by Flashman at 12:55 AM on June 30, 2006

Just looked at sad_otter's link

So these people want to be models and yet almost all have ugly tattoos. What the hell?
posted by rottytooth at 6:02 AM on June 30, 2006

These are great! I think that the emails are what really put it over the top, though...
posted by myeviltwin at 6:31 AM on June 30, 2006

Great idea, and some great photos. I loved this one, especially because of the cat. And, because the personality in the email is nicely reflected in the photo.
posted by found missing at 6:49 AM on June 30, 2006

Flashman, I guess Barnett-Winsby didn't have any lollipops in his bag.
posted by shoepal at 12:57 PM on June 30, 2006

Where are the naked pictures? All I found were clothed people. I mean, c'mon! This is teh intrarweb!
posted by nlindstrom at 6:43 PM on June 30, 2006