The HATCHing of Photography in Asheville

What is Hatch? That is the question most asked when I mentioned my excitement about this 4 day networking conference, somehow named HATCH fest. My unofficial response, which is my own interpretation of just what Hatch IS, is that it is not a festival at all. It is a gathering of creative people from many disciplines including architecture, photography, journalism, music, fashion, design/technology, and film. There are panels, workshops, networking events and parties galore, all filled with people sharing their stories from the experiences they are having just by being surrounded by others from Asheville and around the country with the burning desire to create - something.

When I found out that not much was planned in photography for Hatch 2010, I asked if I could organize some events, and was given the green light. We had less than a month before the event, but I knew there were a lot of energized photographers in our community, and decided to form a panel of female photographers to discuss a variety of topics, which was well attended and well received. I also put out a call for entries to the regional photographic community here in Asheville for two slide shows I wanted to put together - one for the Hatch innovators lounge, and one to project BIG on the side of a building at night downtown, aptly named "Art in the Dark". With the help of fellow photographers and friends, I was able to make it happen, and the results were exactly what I'd hoped: people stopping in the street to watch the 20 minute show that looped for an hour Friday and Saturday evenings, as they came out of the many restaurants and bars near the Lab on Lexingon, where we showed it.

Nothing like an unrealistic deadline to motivate people - I decided to create a stop motion video featuring family and friends (something I had no idea how to do), and I showed it as my contribution to Art in the Dark. It was a baptism by fire learning all the ins and outs of creating a video, but it just got me going, as I can't wait to work on the next one! If you'd like to see it, the link is here on youtube.com:

Murmurs and Motion Stop Motion Video

Photo by Michael Phillips