I say that the connection to Argentina’s revolution (and ultimate independence) is appropriate because of all the photographers I know personally, without a doubt, Gail Mooney is the most revolutionary- and independent-minded.

Since I introduced “Opening Our Eyes” in March, the project has taken much fuller shape. You can get a good sense of the trip at the main website. Keep in mind that a year ago Mooney hadn’t even thought up this trip. From initial concept to flying out of Newark airport today, Mooney and Kelly have orchestrated all details of this massive undertaking in only a little over six months.

Be sure to also check out “Journeys of a Hybrid”, Mooney’s excellent blog full of insights — from the personal and creative to the technical and business side — from a photographer who has lived her life to the fullest, and who seems to be just warming up.

Mooney, who has been in the business for 33 years, has focused primarily on still photographic coverage of travel assignments for magazines. However, she has also worked plenty in the commercial realm in partnership with her husband, Tom Kelly.

Mooney not only made a smooth transition to digital photography, but she is one of the new bread photographers who is fully embracing the possibilities of video and, just as fully, the exciting possibilities of Web publication and social media.

Good Lu. . .

Besides alerting you to Mooney’s departure (”hybrid” still/motion image-making storytellers are sure to find inspiration from her project), the driving force behind writing this post was to publicly say “Good luck, Gail!” However, wishing Mooney good luck seems a bit odd.

In forging the life that she has wanted to live, Mooney has never seemed to rely on luck. “I do really on serendipity,” she to told me yesterday, when I touched base with her by phone. Mooney has talked to me many times about serendipity, especially in regard to how she allows this force to help the stories she is covering to unfold organically, and in different directions then she might originally imagine.

Mooney’s comfort with serendipity will no doubt be a key to her success on this storytelling trip of a lifetime. As she reports in her “Departure Day” post: “Ultimately, we will be interviewing and filming 10 different people on 5 continents.”

What’s fascinating is how Mooney and Kelly will evolve the story as it unfolds, connecting each new subject to the previous in a way that reveals itself in a manner that no script can predict.

The Blessed Web

There are a number of reasons this trip is unique for Mooney — from traveling with her daughter and recording in still and video with a dSLR to covering so many individual stories on such a huge geographical scope. However, I cannot ignore that at the heart of the nature of this trip lies the new possibilities in media, a.k.a., Web 2.0 and Social Media.

Mooney free to create and publish at will. She has told me that it is the ability to publish video to global audience at basically no cost is what makes the possibilities in video truly exciting. It is not, according to Mooney and as many photographers seem to think, that dSLRs can capture HD video. Mooney has been capturing motion for years — first with 16- and 35mm, then with digital — but with each passing day she sees more distribution opportunities.

These opportunities allow Mooney to fly off today sure that she will be able to win an audience for the move she creates with her daughter, although she is not limited in worry exactly what this audience will be.

Beyond distribution, it is important to realize that the very evolution of Mooney’s thinking about and planning for this trip has taken form via the social media efforts that she has been engaged in. Although even just yesterday she mentioned missing the quality of hand-written, post-delivered letters, she clearly has been able to harness the power of developing technologies without losing site of what has always interested her most: connecting on the one-to-one level, learning about people and places and sharing what she has learned with her storytelling.

Lucky Us: A Great Writer

Yesterday, Mooney told me that almost everyone she has told about her journey expresses a “I-wish-I-could-do-that!” kind of jealousy. Well, I’m not jealous of Mooney’s journey, but I must confess to being just a bit jealous of her writing abilities.

More than once Mooney has commented on the fact that she is not a writer, and wished she had greater skills in this area. Well, she really doesn’t need them. She is a damn good writer, and she is one of the few people I know who can quickly communicate in writing as naturally and fluidly as she does in speech. And this is the key to what makes her blogs and her writing (about her life, her subjects and the craft and business of photography) so engaging.

Mooney has already proved herself a savvy, enticing blogger with her “Journeys of a Hybrid”, which no doubt helped get her in shape for “Opening Our Eyes.” Now that she is in great writing shape — and somewhere over the Atlantic en route to her first stop in Entebbe, Uganda — it’s nice to know that, with her characteristic drive to share the rich life she is living, Mooney will be keeping us updated on her adventures at “Opening Our Eyes.”

This is from the Gail Mooney’s new website, “Opening Our Eyes: Global Stories About the Power of One.” As the site explains, Mooney — an accomplished documentary photographer and filmmaker — will be heading around the world with her daughter, Erin Kelly, to gather the material they need to create a feature length film.

This is a project worth keeping tabs on. For one thing, it’s Mooney’s latest personal project, which are always impressive, as she uses them to push her photography forward, both creatively and in terms of business.

“Opening Our Eyes” is particularly interesting to those of us in the industry because Mooney will be pushing her limits in terms of working in both still and motion, employing light and affordable equipment. In short, she will be heading into waters that many of us will heading into ourselves — still & motion — and she does so with the insights of an impressive background in traditional still and motion.

Mooney is in a perfect position to show us how to capture both great stills and motion, ensuring that both get put to the best use. (To see what Mooney’s capable of, check out her shorts for “The Delta Blues Musicians” and “Freedom’s Ride.”)

Freedom’s Ride from Gail Mooney on Vimeo.

This is not to suggest that “Opening Our Eyes” will be about photography for photographers. Hardly. As always, Mooney will focus on the story — on her subjects — focusing on the task of best communicating that story to the most appropriate audience.

Nonetheless, Mooney is very interested in sharing what she learns with photographers. She has already been sharing her knowledge for photographers transitioning to video through her posts on the “ASMP’s Strictly Business Blog,” as well as by giving seminars on the topic.)

As Mooney makes clear, one main ingredient of her “Opening Our Eyes” project will be to rely on the power of serendipity. Much of this serendipity is driven by her involvement the social media of Web 2.0. Mooney has been increasingly embracing social media over the last year  — FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging — and much of the planning for “Opening Our Eyes” has come from the web of interconnectivity she has found in the social media realm.

In “Journeys of a Hybrid,” Mooney’s inspiring blog on photography and filmmaking, Mooney has been writing about “Opening Our Eyes.” The details of “Booking a Round the World Airline Ticket” are both daunting and inspiring. This post is also featured on the “Opening Our Eyes” site, showing that Mooney will have some blogging crossover. But not always.

Today, on “Journey’s of a Hybrid” Mooney posted  “Putting Together a DSLR Video Kit — And Why,” and it likely won’t appear on “Opening Our Eyes.” In other words, as Mooney (and partner Erin Kelly) pump up the content of “Opening Our Eyes” over the coming months, Mooney, through “Journey’s”, will be sharing insights on her photographic process for those of us who share her passion for visual storytelling. This is good news for those of us eager to expand our video knowledge.

In Mooney’s “DSLR Video Kit” post, we hear an expert photographer and filmmaker talking to us about how, at Zacuto, she “was looking for products that were designed to help with camera stability, focus aids and audio when using the Canon 5D or 7D which I will soon be purchasing. She goes into many technical details of preparing a modern-day, around-the-world still-video kit. Good stuff.

Gail Mooney and Erin Kelly will be leaving for Uganda on May 25th, returning back to the United States on August 3rd, after making loads of stops to record “global stories about the power one.” The team will then head to South America (dates not certain) to finish their coverage.

Although Mooney has nailed down most dates for “Opening Our Eyes,” she remains open to possibilities about exactly how this project might play out — and she will be posting much of her process on her blogs and other social media outlets.

All of these are major reasons to pay attention to “Opening Our Eyes.” Not only does Mooney welcome supportive fans, but she is interested in direct support and participation — from the people who have suggested story ideas to volunteers who might active participants in content creation or distribution. (”If you know an expert user experience designer who wants to volunteer for the project, let me know,” Mooney told me recently.)

This social media aspect of “Opening Our Eyes” is very new ground for Mooney. She is a pro when it comes to hectic world travel, returning home with great stories in images. But she is showing true courage in her use of social media. Not only is she reaching out for ideas and inspiration, but she is allowing the media to become part of the process, and even the message itself. As she embraces new technology, she also welcomes the powerful possibilities served up by serendipity.

No doubt Gail Mooney will open our eyes with the final products she creates with Erin Kelly for “Opening Our Eyes.” But don’t just wait for the end results. Get hooked into Mooney’s social media network by becoming her FaceBook friend, signing up for RSS feeds to her sites, and watching Mooney’s unfolding process of visual storytelling practices that embrace the power of video and social media