Unrequited Glove Project :: Andy Farrington

.I'm a sucker for clever series like this one from Andy Farrington. The Unrequited Glove Project began almost ten years ago, shortly after Andy had started a life as a freelance photographer. More of the story, in his own words:

I wanted to capture the motivation that had drawn me into photography in the first place, some 16 years before. I had always had a fascination with lost gloves.....not so much the one that I found, but it's former partner – Perhaps still living it's life of Reilly; a downtrodden tumult in the back-room of an abattoir; mixing with fading glamour-queens in the smoky back-room of a canal-side bar.

So, in earnest, I started to collect them: I took plastic sleeves with me on every journey; I kept as much integrity to the shape of how they were found as possible; I numbered them and referenced the locations; I photographed each and every one in the upstairs back bedroom of my house – I had a studio-stand permanently in place over a lightbox and a Hasselblad with a ringflash attached at all times. I bought dozens of rolls of the same batch of transparency film, so as to keep the colours consistent.

I called the project 'Unrequited Glove', alluding to the un-lost of the pair, then when finished I sat back and wondered what what to do with it. [...] Time passed and I decided to ask a few writer friends to choose their favourite glove and concoct a story for it's lost partner – the life it had lead or was leading. The loss felt by the owner; the history attached to it's patina.

This is how I would like to proceed: I know there are lots of writers here, but I'm not sure how to get the message across, so any help would be appreciated. I would like a person to choose one of the gloves from the gallery (when it has been chosen, it will be removed from view), then when they are all done I will assemble them into a book which will be available to buy online.

Please mail me with your chosen number and I will hide them as they are chosen – there needs to be a connection between you and the glove you choose – please, don't just choose one for the sake of being part of it if you don't feel an affinity with it.

And there you have it. Writers (and non-writers!), take a look through the gallery of gloves and, if any of them speak to you, work up a story of 'unrequited glove'. It can be poetry, prose, or a complete story - any written work is applicable. You can contact Andy through Flickr or www.andrewfphotography.com