COLUMBIA — Photos of a local farmer with watermelons on his shoulders, families picking out produce at the farmers market, cute pet photos and various “slices of life” were among the photos submitted on Saturday for a local photography book project, “The Art of Observation.”
Two longtime locals, Johanna Cox, a technology team lead at Veterans United Home Loans and Rebecca Allen, a local photographer, partnered on the project for the Access Arts CelebrArty annual auction, scheduled for Sept. 17 this year. The fundraising auction will include their photography book that photographers of all skill levels can submit their own photos to — with a catch.
The only rule is that the photo has to be taken in Boone County today, Saturday, July 20, 2024, between midnight and 11:59 p.m. It can be submitted in the next two days, Cox said.
“We love the community of Columbia and Boone County,” Cox said. “We wanted to do a photography book and invite the public to be part of it from all walks of life. We want to make sure we’re including voices from everywhere in Boone County.”
Cox and Allen hope to get at least 100 photos submitted throughout the day from the early hours of the morning to late at night tonight, all in an effort to capture life in various parts of Boone County over the course of one day. Both women handed out small flyers advertising the book project for locals and visitors to the county to take and submit their photos using the QR code on the flyers.
Not everyone who submits photos to the project has to be a professional photographer or have any experience or training in photography. Participants don’t even need to have a “real” camera — a smartphone with a camera will do, Allen said.
“We really want people to see the artist in themselves,” Allen said. “They don’t have to have a special camera — their cell phone is fine. The best camera you have is the one that’s with you, and for most people, that’s their cell phone.”
Those who want to submit a photo can take a great photo with very little effort and skill, Allen added, and is more about how people see the world around them.
“It’s more about how you capture it and how you see it than just what’s in front of you, so we want to try to encourage people to see things a little bit differently today, open their eyes, take out their camera and just capture a little bit of life,” Allen said.
Cox and Allen are just one team among several who are part of creating an original work to be auctioned off at the CelebrArty auction in September. Those who want to contribute a photo that could be included in the the final book project can upload their photo to the BoCoMo Photo Project website. Photos have be taken before 11:59 p.m. on June 20, but can be uploaded by June 22.
