OK, I'm just using the title of the book I just launched of images of Easter Island because it seems to catch peoples' eye. This is really to introduce myself to the ArtKos community:
I work (almost) exclusively in B&W. Eventually tired of the whole fascination with the process / shoot and print in the search for the perfect image thing. I actually put down the cameras for almost 7 years while built up a local art show from the travesties that they now are to a great show that not only did not charge the artists, but provided free tent cover, display racks for those who needed them, free coffee, etc. We managed to pay for it all with imaginative fundraising, not losing a dime.
But when I left the art organization decided that they didn't want to continue putting all the effort into it and let it die (I was headed for a serious operation). My wife (who paints) and I decided to spend a year on Easter Island. I found that with a "project" guiding me, my interest in my art was back.
I would suggest that the key to putting together a major project like this, beyond the financing (that's a book in itself) is commitment. Announce it, put it in writing, pre-sell work that will eventually emerge, get your immediate and expanded community involved to the point where at least the incentive part of it all is on auto-pilot. This avoids the temptation to fold when those inevitable hurdles, some seeming unjumpable, come up. As my wife says: "wear your taters in the front."
In the course of the project I moved from film to digital (another book if I wanted to write it). I had already made the switch from darkroom to scanning and printing my work. About a quarter of the way through the project I picked up a good digital camera (Canon 5D) and spent my 2 months recuperating from my operation working out my "process" for producing prints indistinguishable from those from negatives. Not at all easy, but with far more potential as far as getting the results one wants. Original prints roll of my Epson 7800 - Ultrachrome. Most are between 15x20 and 18x24. In the end only 16 of the 98 images are from film.
The book was an afterthought. On the island I stumbled across a copy of Fred Picker's book of B&W images of the island from 1974, and realized that, as much as has been done, no-one has tried anything to that extent in B&W since - so I expand the project to include the book. Now THAT is a nightmare deserving of its own loooooong column.
I don't know if anyone here works in my medium, is interested in Photography as an art form. But I would be happy to discuss, learn, offer any pointers I can, etc.
My site: jamescraigphotography.com
The Easter Island Blog: easterislandjournal.com
On my part, since I self published to the point of hiring my own printer, I would appreciate any discussion of how to market and try to get my $$$ back. I'm working on a few things right now - this was our new car $$ and there is a need to get it back before our 2001 Caravan dies.
Book launch was Friday evening. Huaaaaaaa!
ps - can someone give me a couple of pointers on adding an image here?