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Sleeveface vs. Dear Photograph.By Emily McLernon and Anna Landi.

+What are Sleeveface and Dear Photograph?

Sleeveface and Dear Photograph are two examples of online participatory photography culture.

What that means is that they require you to provide the pictures for both of the websites.

Both Sleeveface and Dear Photograph give you the instructions on what they want you create and leave the imagination part up to you!

But what’s the difference between them both?

+Sleeveface

Created in 2007 by Carl Morris and John Roston, Sleeveface is a fun idea that gets you to be the pop star. Literally.

Sleeveface face are pictures of one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion. (Sleeveface, 2007)

Since the website (and idea) was created, Sleeveface now have a book, an App and videos telling you how to create your own.

+Here are some great examples of how Sleeveface works:

Madonna tickling the ivories.Credit:Luise Peeck.

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I’m Not Your ToyCredit: Marcio Reverbcity

Expecting AdeleCredit: Idda Aguilar / Mich Uy Guerrero

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Suzanne and The GraduateCredit: Hélène/ Alexis

+Dear Photograph

Dear Photograph is a much newer idea than Sleeveface. It was an idea born in 2011 by Taylor Jones.

As a Tumblr blog to begin with, Dear Photograph invited people to share their own personal experiences with photography.

It asked you to hold a picture from the past in the place it was photographed and take a picture of the picture. Then add a caption to explain the meaning it has to you. (Dear Photograph, 2011)

Like Sleeveface, Dear Photograph also has it’s own book documenting over 200 of the participatory photos!

+Here are some examples of Dear Photograph pictures:

Dear Photograph,

Even though my brother is too big to walk on grandad’s toes now, he still keeps us on ours!

Roisin

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Dear Photograph,Once upon a time in Morehead, Kentucky, you could hear the train whistle and watch people coming and going. Now this is the final destination as only the old train station still remains, standing stong, holding all the memories of days gone by.Tyler.

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Dear Photograph,I’m so proud of my boys childhood dreams were made of bravery, honor and valor. Fifteen years later, dreams really do come true.Nancy

+So what’s the difference?

Emily and I decided that the main difference between Sleeveface and Dear Photograph is the personal resonance with the photos.

Whilst Sleeveface is considered to be fun and light-hearted, Dear Photograph is more personal and is about a person’s memories.

However Sleeveface has that fun element to it as opposed to Dear Photographs seriousness.

+Sleeveface vs. Dear Photographs: The Pictures.

If we look at one photograph from Sleeveface and another from Dear Photograph, we’ll instantly see what the differences between the two cultures are.

We can see that this particular picture from Dear Photograph is based on friendship and how nothing (except their surroundings) has changed. It is personal to the photographer because it is an image of her and her best friend from fifteen years ago.

+Sleeveface vs. Dear Photographs: The Pictures.

If we look at one photograph from Sleeveface and another from Dear Photograph, we’ll instantly see what the differences between the two cultures are.

However in this Sleeveface photo, there isn’t much of a back story as to why this person chose this particular vinyl sleeve. The only ‘personal’ thing about this image is probably the choice of vinyl. Perhaps Byran Adams had a personal resonance with him in that the song may remind him of somebody or something.

+Sleeveface vs. Dear Photograph.

Although both photography culture sites are vastly different in their instructions or the type of message they are trying to get us as participators to send, they are still excellent image sharing sites.

It seems as though Sleeveface is a site that tries to allow participators to out do each other on who can get the funniest or most clever position with a vinyl.

Dear Photograph, on the other hand, gives the opportunity for the photographers to give a little bit of an insight into their lives in the form of memories created from old and new photographs.

+Sleeveface vs. Dear Photograph.

However, if there is one similar thing that Emily and I noticed whilst comparing both of the different photos from both blogs is that in both examples, participators are holding up or using an old medium.

What we mean is that in Dear Photograph, users are taking a photo of an old photo against the backdrop that the first photo was taken in. Similar to Sleeveface that ask the participator to hold up an old vinyl from their collection. Whilst most of the covers are new (Adele and La Roux for previous examples) vinyl's are slowly becoming an outdated method for music storage.

+Conclusion!

Even though we can all agree that there are differences between Dear Photograph and Sleeveface, we can’t deny how brilliant not only the ideas are, but the photographs themselves.

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Dear Photograph,I love my computer so much that it stays in the same place when I use it. Yes. Gwen Stefani is my desktop background.

Anna

+References

Links to all pictures used are included:http://dearphotograph.com/post/36240275048/dear-photograph-even-though-my-brother-is-too-big

 http://dearphotograph.com/post/35941516957/dear-photograph-once-upon-a-time-in-morehead

 http

://dearphotograph.com/post/35567658685/dear-photograph-im-so-proud-my-boys-childhood

http://dearphotograph.com/post/35293616029/dear-photograph-everything-has-changed-around-us

http://www.sleeveface.com/?p=3456

+References continued…

www.sleeveface.com/?p=3411

www.sleeveface.com/?p=3399

www.sleeveface.com/?p=3380

www.sleeveface.com/?p=3378

Information found on both blogs on:

http://www.dearphotograph.com/?6ff1e380

http://www.sleeveface.com/