Claire Oliphant

Persimmon and Sound is a yearlong photo and story telling project. I'll be photographing and interviewing people who are "living the dream", and people who have created beautiful lives. The defining factor for all of these stories will be people who are doing good work, or people who doing things that are good for someone besides just themselves.

The project will end in a gallery show of photographs, and will have a video blog and podcast aspect to help tell peoples' stories.

My inspiration for the project came from several different directions. The first was witnessing the DIY (that's Do It Yourself if you're out of the loop) house show scene, and knowing people who have figured out how to tour and play shows without waiting around for someone to give them permission to do the thing that they want to be doing. The idea for the story-telling portion of the project came from a conversation with a friend about social media. Through amazing determination, and a well-timed grant, she is now living the life she had talked about for years. She says she doesn't like social media all the time, but sometimes her life is so overwhelmingly beautiful that it doesn't feel fair not to share it. I agree, and aren't I so lucky to get to witness stories like this?! I want to help share people's stories, and help others figure out ways to start doing the things that they want to be doing.

I had decided at some point in my early teens that 25 was the perfect age to be. Here I am, graduating college right after my 25th birthday. After getting an art degree from a liberal arts college, I was ready for my next art project, which needed to be defined by some sort of research. I knew I wanted to travel and spend time in places where I couldn't because of school. I was thinking of all the incredible people I wanted to visit, and how proud I am to know these people, and how inspired I've been by them. I want to share some of that inspiration.

The project will look at individual people and their many different projects, and many peoples' collaborative projects. I'll be looking at how communities of DIY folks provide support for each other, and make it possible to live the life they want to be living. I don't want this project to be a big privilege fest, full of privileged people doing cool things with their privilege. I want to meet people who have figured out ways to make their life work, not always through traditional methods.

I also hope to have separate videos from each interviewee teaching how to do something, about something, or performing something. These could be craft techniques, songs, homesteading skills, or stories.

The goal is at least 25 interviews before the end of my 25th year.

I'll need some help to make that happen.