Would you like to take an intimate peep through the fabulously offbeat homes of dozens of creative professionals around the world? Could you use some inspiration for new ways to share hundreds of your images that might not be “portfolio worthy,” but which deserve to be seen, nonetheless? If you’ve answered “yes” to either of these questions (how could you not?), definitely check out “The Selby.”
Yesterday, Jain Lemos asked if I was in on “The Selby.” Having no clue what she was talking about, I headed to the site. What I found was a Web presence oozing with creative energy, displaying wonderful, intimate images of creatively-inspired homes.
At first glance I found the site be seem haphazard, a bit confusing, hard to navigate. But after five minutes with with “The Selby,” I understood its crystal clear focus and and the intelligence of its structure, and boy was I hooked.
I will suggest one way to consider evaluating “The Selby” for practical inspiration for getting more of your images online first, but first let me share an overview of the site, as explained in its own language:
“Todd Selby is a portrait, interiors, and fashion photographer and illustrator. His project The Selby offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. The Selby began in June 2008 as a website, www.theselby.com, where Todd posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. Requests quickly began coming in daily from viewers all over the world who wanted their homes to be featured on the site. The Selby’s website became so popular—with up to 35,000 unique visitors daily—that within months, top companies from around the world began asking to collaborate.”
“Scrapbook” Inspiration
If you check out “The Selby,” you’ll clearly understand the value it offers in terms of domestic peeping. Really cool, no? Visiting the homes of creative persons, seeing how they decorate, looking at where the eat, seeing what they collect and even how they bathe their children, well , that’s certainly cool but. . .
What is I find most inspiring about “The Selby” is how Todd Selby has created a simple format for sharing loads of photographs in a manner that bridges the gap between the carefully thought out photo essays that many pros strive to create (for portfolios or story telling) and the posting of tons of images that so many non-pros engage in daily (for the likes of their FaceBook galleries).
Notice how, for each home visited, Selby starts with one intro image with a caption on his homepage. Clicking this leads to a handful or few dozen images that seem to be arranged in chronological order. Some are photographically quite engaging, most are simply high quality snap shots.
Because all the images are tied together within a common theme per gallery (one visit to one home) and because the entire site has a clear focus (visits to homes), there is no need for captions. The images are delightful to look at. If they are not self explanatory, they raise the kind of questions questions that are fun to consider. (What the hell is that thing hanging on the wall?)
At the bottom of most galleries Selby posts his offbeat, handwritten interview with his subjects.
He follows that with relevant links related to his subjects.
All in all this becomes a wonderful tour, and makes it easy to understand why Selby is reporting up to 35,000 unique visits a day — as well as gaining professional work from this project.
“The Selby” has inspired me to try to consider some less considered formats for sharing images in such a manner. As in, “How can I think less about photo selection and presentation, but increase the numbers of images I am sharing, and the audiences I can pull in?”
I’ve never liked the word “scrapbook” when it comes to photo presentation. But this is the word that comes to mind when I view “The Shelby.” I mean this in the best sense. It’s as if Selby is saying, in an Old Tech way, “Here! Check out these cool pictures!,” and yet he is doing so in a clear, New Tech way that offers inspiration for how we can get more of our images in circulation — even if they don’t seem “portfolio worthy.”
Thanks to Todd Selby for sharing such great images from such wonderful homes — and offering inspiration on photographic sharing!
February 1st, 2010 11:45 am
I thought The Selby would hook you! Todd has one of the most impressive methods for attention grabbing that I’ve seen in awhile, mainly because it’s so cleverly simple. I subscribe to his email feeds and when they arrive I think how great it would be hire him. I hope someone in the position to do so beats me to it every day until I can.