Nomadic Photo Ark returns to Savannah to reconnect with city and take your picture — again

Just about a year ago, in March of 2022, Monica Jane Frisell and Adam Scher of the Nomadic Photo Ark drove into town to take over ARTS Southeast’s On::View Residency space with their Portrait of Us project. They were easy to spot: Their setup included their namesake custom trailer that they’d converted into a mobile darkroom, the boxy white construction parked in front of Sulfur Studios for most of the month that they were here.

Since that time, the pair brought the project to Cleveland, Ohio, took a short break in Seattle, Washington, partnered with Green Box out of Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, got married, turned southeast to Maitland, Florida, and spent two weeks at NC State University in Raleigh.

It’s been a busy 12 months, and as the duo returns to Sulfur Studios once more, this time taking over the main gallery for seven full weeks, they’re looking forward to reconnecting with those they met before, and expanding their understanding of the Hostess City of the South.

“The city itself, we loved it last time for all of the reasons that people probably become transplants here,” said Scher, noting our lovely weather, live oaks, hanging moss, and the friendly vibes. “But also, the chance to come back and actually be able explore it, be here longer, and have a little more leeway with how we do the project so that we can just be in the city, was a big draw.”

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“What I would be really curious about, for people who did it last year, what has changed in the last year."

For those unfamiliar with Portrait of Us, at each stop the Nomadic Photo Ark invites any and all members of the community to meet with them, have their picture taken by Frisell and her old-timey large format camera, and tell their story in response to a prompt, which is recorded and edited by Scher. Those images and stories are then shared via their website (https://www.nomadicphotoark.com/) as well as on their Instagram (@nomadicphotoark), and through their substack page (https://portraitofus.substack.com/), the latter of which doubles as a way for them to fund the costs associated with their processes.

Last year when they came to town, the pair completed around 40 images and interviews, and they’ve done another 180 or so since as they’ve travelled the country. Their return to Sulfur Studios’ main gallery will include a large and ever-changing exhibition of those photographs and recordings, as well as an on-site studio for the pair to work on the project and meet with new participants.

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Underneath the details of these surface details, however, is Frisell and Scher’s genuine love for Savannah. They’ve written in their newsletter that their first stop here was where their project really took off a year ago, and they told me during our conversation that, thanks to the support that they’ve received from the curators at ARTS Southeast and the broader local community in general, coming to Savannah allows them a degree of artistic freedom and exploration unlike anywhere else.

In their first visit in March, for example, they started playing with the idea of silent video portraits, where the subject simply stands idle in front of a video camera for an extended period of time. This go around, they’re also looking to set up a perpetually recording camera that anyone who comes in, whether Monica or Adam are in the space or not, can record an interview.

“Savannah’s like our guinea pig,” Frisell laughed. “We get to use it again and try this other form of capturing stories.”

They’ll also be taking the camera and recorder out into the streets much more during their second visit, with stops at several local businesses, Lake Mayer Community Park, and Daffin Park already planned.

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But probably the biggest addition is the work that they’ll be doing with Deep Center’s Block By Block program to, according to the ARTS Southeast website (https://artssoutheast.org/), teach a group of already skilled young creatives how to work with “analog photography, sound recording and storytelling.” Those students will then have the opportunity to show off their creations in the On::View Residency space during the April 7 First Friday in Starland.

“I hope we can just kind of play around” with the students, Frisell said. “And they’re also going to be able to bring such a different perspective on the city than we’ve every seen. Just speaking with young people in general, it’s just so different than our usual demographic.”

“They just have a much different way of looking at things."

It’ll be interesting to see what these young Savannahians (Block By Block caters specifically to high schoolers aged 15-18) do with the philosophy and techniques that the Nomadic Photo Ark is bringing once again to our community, especially given the nature of what they do is, in many ways, steeped in the past. It’s not exactly the kind of art that lends itself to TikTok.

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“They way that we do stuff does demand some patience and slowness,” Frisell said near the end of our conversation.

“There was somebody recently who asked us why we don’t make it shorter and quicker for Instagram followers and all this stuff,” she continued. “And I was like that’s not really my problem. There’s no way I’m gonna shorten and change how we present the work because our society is impatient. I just want people to be reminded that people do deserve the time.”

Those wishing to participate in the Nomadic Photo Ark’s Portrait of Us can do so by signing up at artssoutheast.org/portraitofus, or by contacting the duo directly via their websites and Instagram. The exhibition runs through April 22.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Nomadic Photo Ark returns to Savannah GA and Sulfur Studios