The Creatives Project is a photographic documentation of a city’s creative core. In an effort to pay homage, elevate and connect artists with viewers and with each other, photographer Neda Abghari is building a visual archive of the artists, musicians, and cultural creatives that represent a city’s creative heartbeat. Every shoot is a unique, collaborative effort between the photographer and the featured artist. Each portrait seeks to document the artist, and is framed by what makes him or her unique: inspiration, influences, history, context, likes & dislikes, and on and on. Whether using a treasured object, an eccentric article of clothing, or a specially-chosen location, the unique characteristics of each photograph act as clues in helping the viewer to understand the artist's work, aesthetic, or sound. The resulting portrait is an intimate look that aids in visually informing the viewer about where the artist came from, where the artist is going, and where the two intersect.
Abghari has always been drawn to the creative culture and those participants who have existed on the fringe, underground, or outside of the commercial world of art and music. Recognizing the isolation that so often exists for these artists, however, she has sought ways to use her photography to connect and foster a sense of community. The Creatives Project encourages cross-pollination – between visual artists, musicians, performance artists and the audience as a whole – to bring exposure and access to the larger world of creatives existing outside of each artist’s work.
Begun in Atlanta, the project has grown beyond the city’s boundaries to connect artists and communities across the county. An online publication created for the Project features portraits and interviews with the musicians, painters, illustrators, performance artists, and others documented through the project. The words and images combine to bring the artist out from behind the work.
The Project culminated in Atlanta with a massive exhibition and event, Art + Music, in November 2009. The exhibition featured a selection of Atlanta’s hottest DJs and producers photographed in their studios with their favorite childhood objects. Over thirty life-size portraits were displayed, including the underground movers and shakers that have influenced Atlanta’s music scene, both past and present. Many of the photographed DJs performed, offering the over 500 guests in attendance a true multimedia presentation of their work. After the success of the project's first show in Atlanta, Abghari has decided to present the project nationally in a variety of contexts, including gallery shows, events, a touring exhibition, and ultimately a volume of books. Next stop: New York City.