How Did Participants “Photo a Friend”? | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios

TL;DR

Participants responded to Tonya Hollander’s Photo a Friend assignment by creating thoughtful formal portraits of internet friends, siblings, families, parents with children, mentors, and pets. Inspired by Hollander’s “Are You Really My Friend?” series about her 600-plus Facebook friends, the assignment explored friendship in the internet age while showing that “formal” can mean carefully considered rather than still or serious. Read on for standout portraits and the stories behind them.

Transcript

Hey, everybody. It's April, which I hereby declare Participant Appreciation Month. Hey, happy Participant Appreciation Month. [POP] Whoa! That was loud. This show exists because you guys make great art in response to these videos and also because you watch and comment on the videos and contribute to the Art Assignment community. Because we apprecia... Read More

Key Insights

• ❓ Participant Appreciation Month celebrates the Art Assignment community and their contributions to the show.
• 👔 The assignment on friendship through formal photographic portraits highlights the complexity of relationships, both online and offline.
• 🤳 The definition of "friend" expands beyond traditional notions, with participants capturing the spirit of friendship through various subjects, including family members, pets, and even the self.
• ❓ The importance of trust and vulnerability in posing for a friend's photograph is acknowledged and celebrated.
• 😌 The power of photography lies in its ability to capture intimate moments and personalities, even for viewers who have no personal attachment to the subjects.
• 💖 The ongoing book club selection, John Dewey's "Art As Experience," sparks thoughts on the relevance of art in contemporary society.
• 💦 Highlights videos and social media shout-outs are planned to showcase participants' work further.

Questions & Answers

Q: What were the highlights of the Photo a Friend assignment?

Highlights included portraits of long-distance internet friends, siblings, families, mothers with their children, a mentor, and pets. The host praised images for qualities such as careful composition, clarity, narrow depth of focus, and how thoughtfully they represented each friendship.

Q: What did Tonya Hollander ask participants to do for Photo a Friend?

Tonya Hollander asked participants to take a formal photographic portrait of a friend. She allowed them to define “friend” however they wanted, which led to portraits of peers, relatives, mentors, families, and pets.

Q: How is Photo a Friend connected to “Are You Really My Friend?”

The assignment is closely related to Tonya Hollander’s ongoing series “Are You Really My Friend?” For that series, she travels around the world taking formal portraits of all 600-plus of her Facebook friends, exploring what friendship means in the internet age.

Q: How did Meg Gilbert and Betty portray their internet friendship?

Meg Gilbert and Betty from Articulations met through the Art Assignment community. Betty asked Meg to be the subject of her portrait, and the host highlighted Betty’s careful composition despite the distance and Meg’s serious approach to being photographed.

Q: What did Lydia’s portraits say about long-distance friendship?

Lydia photographed Cassie and Amy as examples of internet friendship. She described a friend as someone worth driving 3 hours to see and emphasized that online friendships are not limited by proximity.

Q: Does a formal portrait require the subject to remain still and serious?

The host concluded that a formal portrait does not necessarily require stillness or seriousness. After considering Aubrey’s dynamic portrait of young siblings, she suggested that “formal” can instead mean well considered and thoughtfully created.

Q: Why did some participants include families and children in their portraits?

Hannah portrayed an entire family because she felt that great friends can come as package deals. Peter included friends with their babies because motherhood had become intrinsic to who they were after challenges they faced with grace, strength, and determination.

Q: How did participants interpret the word “friend”?

Participants interpreted friendship broadly rather than limiting it to peers they spoke with regularly. Their subjects included sisters, siblings, whole families, a Ukrainian woman described as exceptionally kind, someone who taught the photographer about fishing, and pets, including more dogs than cats.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The host announces Participant Appreciation Month and highlights creative contributions from viewers in response to Tonya Hollander's art assignment on friendship in the digital age.

• The assignment involved taking formal photographic portraits, with many participants capturing the essence of long-distance internet friendships.

• Participants also showcased the importance of friends in their everyday lives, capturing family members, pets, and even themselves as subjects.