Photography projects
Personal photography projects are vital way for photographers to create work or to explore new subjects and techniques.
We publish new photo projects every week, so sign up to our mailing list to hear about the lastest interviews and articles.
Personal Work Journal features the best photo projects from around the world, and explores the passion projects of photographers, curators, artists and creatives.
Featured Photography Projects
Greg Turner
“The first conversation that I had with myself was, what do I want to say and what kind of photographer do I want to be?”
Greg Turner is a portrait photographer who works in a series of long term projects, lasting months or sometimes years.
His work is intensely personal seeking to reveal as much about himself as to scrutinise the subjects of his images.
Elinor Carucci
“There is a conflict between my sense of liberation – feminist me – and the roles and stereotypes that women are still subject to.”
Israeli American photographer Elinor Carucci has carved out a very successful fine art career in New York City.
Carucci’s latest book Midlife is an exquisitely intimate portrait of the photographer and her family.
Latest Personal Work
With Hen, Bex Day aims to give older transgender people a presence in 40 portraits of people over 40.
Dan NAME Bex day JOB Fashion & portrait photographer WEBSITE Bex Day PROJECT HenBex Day is a photographer working in fashion and portraiture. Her client list is an impressive roster of magazines such as the New York Times and Vogue Italia, along with brands...
Olga Karlovac turned a bold personal style into a new career & a series of best selling photobooks.
NAME Olga Karlovac JOB Economist WEBSITE Olga Karlovac PROJECT before winterOlga Karlovac is a Croatian photographer based in Zagreb. Originally an economist, she turned to photography as a creative outlet when she became disillusioned with her professional working...
Working alone in the dark Melanie King exposes her film to the ancient light of the stars
NAME Melanie K King JOB Lecturer in Photography & PhD Researcher WEBSITE Melanie King PROJECT Ancient LightMelanie K King is currently working towards her practice based PhD at the Royal College of Art. The project she's sharing with Personal Work Journal is part...
Focusing on Hong Kong’s drag scene enables Kasper Forest to explore conflict at a local & personal level.
Siufung Law, LGBT+ advocate, life coach & bodybuilderNAME Kasper Forest JOB Photographer/Multi-media Artist WEBSITE Kasper Forest PROJECT Immediate SexualityKasper Forest describes himself as a multimedia artist, screen writer and photographer. His work focuses on...
Documentary photographer Ryan Thomas’ self published photobook contrasts protests from the USA, UK & France.
NAME Ryan Thomas JOB MA Graduate WEBSITE Ryan Thomas PROJECT Everything Will Kill YouRyan Thomas is an early career documentary photographer and has just completed an MA in Photojournalism at Swansea. Ryan’s work focuses on protest and he’s recently self-published...
Greg Turner has used a series of intensely personal projects to develop a body of work that is rapidly attracting acclaim & attention
NAME Greg Turner JOB Sales WEBSITE Greg Turner PROJECT The Divided Self Greg Turner is a portrait photographer who works in a series of long term projects, lasting months or sometimes years. His work is intensely personal seeking to reveal as much about himself as to...
Childhood memories & a technique of creative destruction have resulted in a beautiful new photobook for Polaroid photographer Naomi James.
NAME Naomi James JOB Teacher WEBSITE Naomi James PROJECT Lockdown Decay PUBLISHED BY Pannoval Press (£28 - £33)Most photographers have an origin story, perhaps a moment that turned them onto photography or the gift of a camera that sparked a life long obsession. Naomi...
Documentary photographer Aino Väänänen launches a new photography Magazine, We Shall See
NAME Aino Väänänen JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Aino Väänänen PROJECT We Shall SeeI try to take pictures that somehow portray the person’s essence, that brings out something they might not have seen themselves.Aino Väänänen is a documentary photographer based...
With her photobook, Midlife, art photographer Elinor Carucci presents a searingly personal view on aging and relationships.
Hair dye. 2016NAME Elinor Carucci JOB Art Photographer WEBSITE Elinor Carucci PROJECT MidlifeThere is a conflict between my sense of liberation – feminist me, strong and confident - and the roles and stereotypes that women are still subject to.Interview by Elizabeth...
With her zine, Sick, Pippa Healy turns a physical reaction to a terror attack into an examination of grief & trauma
NAME Pippa Healy JOB Artist WEBSITE Pippa Healy PROJECT SickSELF PUBLISHING PHOTOGRAPHY More from our month long feature on self publishing photobooks & zines, including new books from Homer Sykes & Brian Griffin.Pippa Healy is a London based artist whose work...
Legendary documentary photographer Homer Sykes draws on his archive of colour work for his new book,
HOMER SYKES. Blackpool, Lancashire. 1980s. From My British Archive: Colour Works 1980's & 90's © Homer SykesNAME Homer Sykes JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Homer Sykes PROJECT My British Archive: Colour Works the 1980s and 90s SELF PUBLISHING PHOTOGRAPHY...
Aisha Ife drew on personal experience to produce a series of intimate portraits.
NAME Aisha Ife JOB Portrait & Product Photographer WEBSITE Aisha Ife PHOTO PROJECT The Skin Series "I want my images of people to feel like home and I like to capture my subjects being themselves and comfortable" Aisha Ife is a portrait and product photographer...
Shot in the high passes of the Himalayas, almost ruined by poor lab work and then left in a box for 10 years, Sebastien Tickner’s Road Workers finally sees the light.
NAME Sebastien Tickner JOB Documentary Photographer WEBSITE Sebastien & Louise PROJECT Road WorkersPhotography is so intertwined with my life that in many ways, it is my life. The camera gives me a reason to travel, to spend time or to sit and maybe spend an hour,...
An Uneasy Paradise – Life on the Waterways, a self published photobook by Sebastien & Louise
NAME Sebastien & Louise JOB Documentary Photographers WEBSITE Sebastien & Louise PROJECT An Uneasy Paradise - Living on the WaterwaysAfter an 18 month journey around the canals of Britain, Sebastien and Louise returned to a boating community on the Kennet...
In Black Country Dada, Brian Griffin talks about shooting pop stars, surreal businessmen and majestic builders.
NAME Brian Griffin JOB Portrait & Commercial Photographer WEBSITE Brian Griffin PROJECT Black Country Dada "When I left home at 18 to go to college in Manchester, I said to my Mum, 'I'm going to be more famous than David Bailey.' It didn't work out that way."If...
For Lagos based photographer Andrew Esiebo, commissions often result in longer term personal work.
NAME Andrew Esiebo JOB Photographer WEBSITE Andrew Esiebo PROJECT Alter Gogo My photography is not about being commercially successful it’s about using photography to tell what I see: photography is my personal empowerment.Andre Esiebo is a Lagos...
Liz Rideal, Professor of Fine Art at The Slade, combines photography & video in her personal work.
Kerfuffle, 2004, 24x17m, scanachrome on vinyl from a photo-booth original, BBC commission for Broadcasting House. NAME Liz Rideal JOB Professor of Fine Art WEBSITE Liz Rideal My mantra is “Things will resolve themselves."Liz Rideal is an artist and writer, and...
For Nigerian photojournalist Nelly Ating, a deeply personal project has brought a new perspective to her conflict photography.
NAME Nelly Ating JOB Photographer WEBSITE Nelly Ating PROJECT Self Portrait I think my work is a deeply personal thing, it's not for everybody and I’ve come to terms with that. Nelly Ating is a Nigerian photographer and her work focuses on...
A personal project resulted in a string of commissions for photojournalist KC Nwakalor.
NAME KC Nwakalor JOB Photographer WEBSITE KC Nwakalor PROJECT Tales of the Oil Rich South Most of the clients who’ve hired me don’t even look at my commercial work, they look at my personal projects. KC Nwakalor is a photojournalist and...
Years of engagement with historical archives has led to a Smithsonian artist fellowship for Vesna Pavlović.
NAME Vesna Pavlovic JOB Associate Professor of Art, Vanderbilt University, Nashville WEBSITE Vesna Pavlovic PROJECT Stagecraft Vesna Pavlović is currently an Associate Professor of art at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Pavlović’s projects examine...
Mountain guide & photographer Steve Razzetti walked for 1000s of miles across the Himalayas getting to know the landscape and people.
NAME Steve Razzetti JOB Photographer & Mountain Guide WEBSITE Steve Razzetti PROJECT Pakistan Zindabad!All my work is just for me. I have done very little “commercial” work, and shoot only to satisfy my own personal eye. Steve Razzetti is a photographer and...
Personal Work
All good work is personal.
Personal work is vital to all creatives. It’s where we get to try things out, follow an obsession or just have fun. Or it’s the work of another artist, someone who inspires or shows the way.
Either way, good work is always personal.
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