The Post Code Project
My name is Simon Ross, I'm a photographer in Sydney & have started a project with some fellow photographers that we think could be of great interest to Camera Clubs across Australia.
It's called the Postcode Project. The idea in a nutshell is to document every postcode in Australia through all levels of photographer. I wanted to ask if it was something you think your clubs, and their members would be interested in being a part of. As you'll see from the website, the intent is to build an authentic, cliche free portrait of Australia, by the Australians who live in each part of it. We'd like to be able to approach Camera Clubs and ask their members if they would like to participate & I think your endorsement would help enormously.
The idea has sat with me since I was a kid in New Zealand. In 1983, 75 photographers documented New Zealand in one day. I have always wanted to try something similar but the logistics frankly scared me away. I then had the idea that it could be done piece by piece and would be a great platform for what I'd call "non-professional" photographers (which I think encompasses all levels) to have a project to shoot for, or to contribute to, and to have the chance to be published, even if for the time being it is via web only.
The group of people helping me are other photographers I met through Fairfax's "Clique" program over the last few years. They include Peter Waters who won the Fairfax Clique Photographer of the Year & Jonathan Armstrong who along with myself was one of the three runners up. I have included their email addresses so you can perhaps contact them to look into this more deeply if you'd like to validate what I've had to say in this email.
It is a non-profit effort, a community endeavour. I am running the site from home & my colleagues assist with the assessment of each submission. We are not consciously excluding professional photographers, we are just aiming it at non-professionals as I'm sure they like me, would just love the opportunity to have a project and the chance to have our pictures seen in a public forum.
The intent is that if we generate enough traffic through the website to generate some advertising we could then use any monies to fund an exhibition and/or a photo book. It's early days so I really have no idea how soon that might become a possibility.
The links to the website & Instagram we have set up are below. In my day job I work for WestpacBT in Sydney & can be contacted via my mobile 0451172743
Many thanks
web | postcodeproject.com