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My Most Important Project

CJ Chilvers
CJ Chilvers
2 min read
My Most Important Project

My grandfather took a lot of pictures in his life and for 50 or more years they remained glued to rotting paper in a flimsy, but huge, photo album. A few years ago, I took on the project of scanning, restoring and publishing these old photos as a record of his extraordinary life. The project is coming to the publishing stage and I can finally come up for air.

This is not for profit. This is not a "side hustle." The public will never see the end product. Yet, it's the most important photo project I've ever taken on. I hope it will last a few centuries within in the family and provide a great story for generations to come.

As much as I believe in sharing your work, I also believe personal, private projects hone your eye for what's really important - to you. If the public will never see it, you get to discover exactly what you want from yourself in a print or a book (hopefully your end product is analogue).

This is not a trivial thing. This is insight into what differentiates you from other artists. It's an invaluable lesson.

Did I mention, my grandfather was a badass WWII photographer?

As I discover the identities of his subjects, I'll attempt to contact their relatives and offer a PDF of the book. Luckily, he wrote captions on the back of many of his war photos.

As I discover the identities of his subjects, I'll attempt to contact their relatives and offer a PDF of the book. Luckily, he wrote captions on the back of many of his war photos.

His spent a good deal of his negatives on friends, most likely in Hawaii, getting ready to start the Pacific campaign. I'm trying to find their relatives through Facebook. This was a happy time. After the campaign started, it changed him. He wa…

His spent a good deal of his negatives on friends, most likely in Hawaii, getting ready to start the Pacific campaign. I'm trying to find their relatives through Facebook. This was a happy time. After the campaign started, it changed him. He was never the same after the war.

He documented what he saw in the islands as the US advanced. I believe his job was to set up communications on the islands. He was at Guadalcanal, but I'm not sure where he took this.

He documented what he saw in the islands as the US advanced. I believe his job was to set up communications on the islands. He was at Guadalcanal, but I'm not sure where he took this.

This is him: Charles F. Chilvers, badass photographer, WWII vet and one of many reasons I get to photograph whatever I want today.

This is him: Charles F. Chilvers, badass photographer, WWII vet and one of many reasons I get to photograph whatever I want today.