One step forward, zero steps back

I did it! I got out to the Garstang Museum of Archaeology again a couple of weeks ago and I’m so happy about it! I’m now one step closer to doing my first bit of artefact photography since June 2023.

I’m still spending most of my days in the house, but I’m tentatively stepping out a little more (I went to the shops the other weekend. I only went to a couple of places, and I stopped after half an hour, but WOW did I feel like … well, a normal person … even if I did have to spend the afternoon resting. I also got to spend my money at local shops rather than having to default to That Online Retail Giant).

I still have to be veeeery careful about how much I allow myself to do – it could all come tumbling down again very quickly if I push too much. So … baby steps …

But I got out to the Garstang to have a reccy and make some plans.

I had a nose around and did the thing that brings me joy second only to the actual photography: rifling through boxes of artefacts, looking for potential subjects.

For my first photography session I want ease myself back in, so I decided to look through some of the boxes of amulets.

There are a few I’ve made a note of that I really want to photograph, including (please excuse the rough-and-ready snaps here, grabbed as quick reminders):

A recumbent lion:

A rather stunning obsidian (?) scarab with gold inlays, which will need the light pad:

A stela-shaped amulet depicting the god Shu:

A chubby-cheeked son of Horus:

A gorgeous little scarab, dusky blue and grey in colour, but which turns out to also be translucent (this one will need photographing both with and without a lightbox):

There were also beautiful carnelian (?) scarabs and Wadjet-eyes (Eye of Horus), which will need the light pad; amulets of djed-pillars and papyrus columns; and tiny animals such as frogs and hedgehogs.

But the first object I’ve decided to photograph is an amulet of a ram-headed sphinx:

I’ve not photographed a sphinx amulet before, so it’s an interesting piece to get my teeth into (not literally, of course …), but a small faience amulet is also familiar enough that I can get myself going without over-burdening myself with things like light pads and complicated camera set-ups, and I’ll be able to stay sitting on a chair to do the photography.

At this particular point, I’m only aiming to photograph this one single object and leave it at that for the day so I can see how spending an hour or two doing actual photography makes me feel.

I’m booked in for the morning of Monday 24 March, so things are getting real now, my friends!

Help sponsor an artefact

Unlike the photography I’ve done for exhibitions, this photography is part of my personal long-term photography projects (Tiny Egypt, in this case) and I don’t get paid for it by the museums.

So, I want to try raise some funds to cover my costs.

If you’re able, you can become a part of the project by helping sponsor the photography of this artefact. You can do this by either becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack or by making a one-off donation.

If you set up a paid subscription, it costs £3.50 a month, or £35 for a year (getting you two free months).

Paid subscribers will get access to a private chat on Substack while I’m at the Garstang where I’ll share a few behind-the-scenes photos and you can ask me questions/comment directly.

If you would prefer, you can make a one-off donation directly to me via the button below and your patronage can be whatever you like, starting from just £1.

Donations of at least £7 will get you two months’ paid subscription on Substack, so you can come and join in the live chat, if you wish.

Once I’ve done the photography, over the following few weeks I’ll edit the images I make, and write an Artefacts in focus article about the sphinx.

This idea of sponsoring an artefact – of raising funds for a specific photography session – is a bit of an experiment. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work; I’ll still do the photography, hop into a private chat with my existing paid subscribers and write the Artefacts in focus article. But I’d love to see if I can fund these sessions reasonably. If a few more of you are able to offer financial support, then I’ll look at bumping up rewards for future sessions, but I want to test the waters first to see if it’s a viable option.

I understand that many people have been hit by the current cost-of-living problems (I have been, too), and I completely understand if you’re unable to support me financially. Any support you can give is brilliant – even if you just follow me on Substack/Bluesky/Facebook and like/share/comment on this post, every bit of support really helps me.

So a big thank you to all of you who help me out, whether financial or otherwise.

Julia