WORKS IN PROGRESS
A Documentary Archive of Work as It Happens
The finished result is easy to celebrate. The work that leads to it is where much of the story lives.
Works in Progress documents people actively building, making, practicing, serving, creating, or pursuing work they care about.
It records labor, repetition, decisions, unfinished ideas, changing spaces, and the small details that are often lost once the work moves on.
No staging. No performance. No pressure. No cost to participate.
An independent photographic record of the work itself.
Now booking current and upcoming sessions.
What You Receive
Participation in Works in Progress is free.
Accepted participants receive:
A 45 to 60 minute documentary session
A public Works in Progress archive entry
A curated selection of photographs published with a link to your business, organization, project, or creative practice
10 high-resolution images of your choice for social media, websites, print, and general promotional use with attribution to Still.Life. Photography
No watermarks. No hidden fees. No required purchase.
The goal is the record.
Optional Full Gallery Access | $225
After the session, you may choose to purchase the complete edited gallery.
The full collection typically includes 30 to 50 or more photographs from the session and includes commercial usage for social media, websites, print, marketing, and general promotional purposes with attribution.
Purchasing the full gallery is optional. Participation in Works in Progress never depends on making a purchase.
Full gallery purchases help support the continued documentation and operation of the archive.
Why Participate
Most work is photographed only after it has been finished, arranged, cleaned up, or prepared for presentation.
Works in Progress documents what happens before that stage disappears.
You receive a professional record of your people, process, space, tools, activity, and current stage of work while those things are still changing.
The photographs can be used to show what you do, explain your process, document your progress, or preserve a version of the work that may not exist in the same way again.
How the Session Works
Enter. Document. Exit.
I arrive, confirm any access or privacy boundaries, document the work, and depart.
No complicated shot lists. No staged scenes. No forced interactions.
During the 45 to 60 minute session, you continue working as you normally would. The activity may involve making, preparing, practicing, serving, organizing, meeting, repairing, teaching, building, or simply showing how the work operates.
I work quietly and stay out of the way as much as the space allows. The work remains the focus.
I may ask a few direct questions or make a small adjustment when it helps me understand or photograph what is happening, but I am not there to direct a performance.
The goal is not to make everything look perfect.
The goal is to make an honest and useful record of what is already there.
Who This Is For
Works in Progress is for people and groups with an active process to document.
This may include:
Artists, makers, craftspeople, and builders
Independent businesses and working teams
Nonprofits and community organizations
Performers, educators, growers, organizers, and service providers
Solo practitioners, collaborative projects, and larger working groups
You do not need to be famous, established, polished, or finished.
You do need to be actively doing the work and willing to let it be documented with minimal interference.
Why I Am Building This
I have total aphantasia. I cannot form mental images or recreate sights, sounds, or other sensory experiences in my mind.
I also remember much of my life as information rather than as scenes I can internally revisit.
Photography gives me an external record of the world.
Since 2019, Periphery in Motion has been the formal home for my personal visual archive, though the practice began much earlier.
Works in Progress extends that practice outward.
It allows me to document people engaged in work before the people, spaces, processes, relationships, and stages of development change.
The early version. The repetition. The unfinished parts. The ordinary activity. The things that may seem permanent until they are gone.
Works in Progress is intended to become a long-term regional archive of people doing the work that shapes their businesses, organizations, practices, and communities.
I hope you will become part of it.
What This Is Not
Works in Progress is not a free brand shoot or a staged advertising production.
You do not need to rearrange the space, create artificial activity, or put on a show for the camera. Normal preparation, safety procedures, and privacy considerations are expected. The work itself should remain real.
The project is built on trust.
You are trusting my judgment to document the work carefully. I am trusting you to provide honest access to the process as it currently exists.
Works in Progress sessions do not include custom shot lists, reshoots, or participant-directed editing. Agreed privacy restrictions and factual corrections are treated separately and will always be respected.
The archive is strongest when the record is honest.
Apply to Participate
I am currently seeking participants for Works in Progress.
Tell me:
What you are working on
Where you are located
What I would be able to observe during a typical session
Whether there are particular dates, activities, or stages of the work that would be useful to document
Sessions are typically scheduled one to four weeks in advance.
