Friendship, Family, Love and Laughter is the offering from the M.I.LK photography project. Sarah Hannah Fisher is impressed.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of the M.I.L.K photography competition, you are excused in thinking that its latest release, Friendship Family Love and Laughter, is nothing more than a collection of sappy snaps suitable for Hallmark greeting cards.
Ten years ago, a global photographic competition was launched under the banner of ‘Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship.’ (M.I.L.K) It was the largest search in photographic history with over 40 000 images from amateur and professional photographers.
This new collection features 150 original images selected out of a whopping 35 000, from photographers in 112 countries. There are entries from professional and amateur photographers alike. There are award winning photographers, photographic journalists, wedding photographers and even a handful of talented high school students.
The magic of this particular collection of photography lies in its diversity. The images themselves are as varied as the photographers and the locations in which you see them.
The camera doesn’t lie and it doesn’t judge. The images reveal strangers and yet they are familiar to us. The deeply etched lines on an old woman’s face, the toothy laughter of a child, the gentle touch of a friends hand… The emotions portrayed range from simple, childlike wonder and joy to deep depression. It is a study in universal emotion and you can recognize the joy shared between two elderly Indonesian women squatting by a dilapidated door way as if it is your own.
This book will bring a smile to the faces of even the most cynical readers. In this case, the picture really does tell a thousand words.
Friendship, Family, Love and Laughter, edited by Geoff Blackwell is available from Hachette Australia.
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