Send Me Another Photo!

I faintly remember promising May as the timing of the second Ekphrastic Challenge. I do believe that time has come!

If you’re unfamiliar, here's how it works. For about a month, I open submissions for photographs, then randomly assign them to the people who submitted. With these photos, we each write a story. The end result is a mixed media, community-generated challenge! And don't think there won't be cash prizes, because there will!

Last time, there were a few hiccups, so for this round, I’m going to make it more specific and convenient.

Rules for Photographs

1 – YOU TOOK THE PICTURE

The photo must have been taken by you, the Vocal Creator. It must depict something you wouldn’t mind another writer writing a story about. It can be the first picture you ever took or one that you haven’t even conceived of taking yet. I don’t mind which, as long as it meets the requirements below.

Because you’re in charge of picking or potentially taking the photograph, make sure you’re okay with someone else writing a story about it. You will not write a story based on your own photo. Is there potential for a story to be written from this image? A backstory, location, character, or some other spark of inspiration inside its four borders?

Upload ONE photo to the Shared Google Drive Folder.

Given the difficulty I experienced downloading the photographs from the last Google Doc, I’m going to have us upload our photos to a shared Google Drive Folder instead. This means that we can all easily access and see all the photos. Most importantly, it means that we can easily download our assigned one, retaining the pixel integrity.

2 – CHOOSE AN ARTISTIC IMAGE

Your photo should be composed in a creative or interesting way. This means it should have an aesthetic you’d expect to find in, say, an art museum or maybe in your cultured grandmother’s house or simply that you’d want to pay to get framed and displayed. I know art is subjective. This is my attempt at uniting us in a shared standard, an even playing ground. I want the overall vibe of these photos to be similar to allow all who participate to have an even foundation for their story. True, each photo will be unique, but if the atmosphere of each is aimed in the same direction, then the narrative inspiration can be too.

Can you edit the photo? Yes. However, please keep edits minimal and expected, like contrast, or light cropping, that sort of thing. No extravagant additions, filters, or effects. think of this part of the challenge like you might a photography contest. (I’d hope it goes without saying that absolutely no AI should be involved. I will disqualify anyone who submits an AI image.)

Here are a few examples, for inspiration. (All taken and lightly edited by me.)

3 – YOU SUBMIT, YOU COMMIT ;D

If you submit a photo, you are committing to writing a story. Let's try to avoid any leftovers this time around, if possible! Because I see this as a communal project from start to finish, I feel responsible that each photo gets utilized.

* That being said, if you’d like to submit a photo and not write, I will allow this in a separate folder for a separate challenge. I’m calling it “Ekphrastic Tag.” Details to come!

4 – CHALLENGE ETHICS AND WHATNOT

I will not be reshuffling photo assignments after I post them. I used a number generator last time and will do so again. If you don’t like your photo, please keep that information to yourself, as I find it to be bad taste to make that information public where the photographer can see.

Furthermore, I humbly request that you do not trade with others this time around. There was no issue last time, as I didn’t consider anyone would want to, but for this one, I’d prefer we didn’t.

If you cannot write a story in time, please let me know as soon as you know so that I can do something with the photo you were assigned.

THE RULES – SUMMARY

1. Submit one photo that you took to this Folder. Please use your Vocal name as the file name. File format should be .jpg or .jpeg.
2. The photo must be artistic and hold the potential for a story.
3. You commit to writing if you submit a photo.
4. No late submissions. (Time zone converters are available online, if you need one!)
5. No re-assignments by request.
6. No trading.

DEADLINE

In about three weeks, I will be closing the photo submissions by restricting editing access in Google Drive. The deadline is 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST) on June 5th. I will post a reminder a few days before!

You can change your photo at any point before the deadline!                 

Curious about Part 2?

PART 2 OVERVIEW

Once you are randomly assigned your photo, I will leave a six week time frame until the deadline.

For the writing itself, I’m open to stories and poetry. Yay!

• Fiction: between 800 and 1500 words.
• Poetry: between 1-3 pages (according to a word processor).

* I will post the rubric and all the necessary info at the start of Part 2 😀

OPTIONAL: ADD A SONG IF YOU WANT!

If you have a mind to, add a song to your story or poem. Ideally, this song is relevant to your piece in some way (any way, really). Include the title of the song and the artist in whatever format you see fit.

I’d like to compile a playlist at the end of this challenge and use it in the winner’s list article. Who knows? I might even create a different challenge using that playlist…

***

I am stoked for this challenge!! I keep getting all kinds of ideas for similar takes on it too, like one based on paintings and sculptures, even one based on music.

Let me know if you need any clarification on how to access the Google Drive Folder or anything else at all. As always, I welcome all kinds of feedback.

So excited to see your artistic images!

Cheers, all!

Where Do I Submit??

THIS Challenge — Second Ekphrastic Challenge. You are committing to writing if you submit a photo here.

Tag! Photo Challenge — Tag Photo Challenge. You don’t have to commit to writing if you submit a photo here.

(Yes, you can submit to both!)