Project Educate: Group Interview - #All-About-Film

Today, as part of Project Educate's focus on darkroom photography, I'm presenting an interview with All-About-Film and its founder, Evil-e33.

Could you briefly summarize your group and its mission, along with what you accept to your gallery? What makes your group different from the rest?

All-About-Film's mission is to provide a place for lovers of film. We are about the medium, and all things that can be done with it. We accept into our galleries nearly everything, with minor excepts like gore, and some forms of graphic nudity. What sets our group apart from similarly themed groups is, we have NO quality control. We feel it is not our job to dictate to our members what is and is not good or what constitutes "Art". Our members are free to share their worst or their best without fear of being rejected.

What's your most common reason for rejecting submissions?

The basis of rejections in our group is if film and camera information are not included into the description field on the deviation, if it's submitted to the wrong format folder, or if it violates our content addendum i.e. gore, and graphic nudity.

Does your group employ folders and favourites in addition to the main "Featured" gallery?

We don't allow members to add to the collections/favourites gallery. This is the most abused gallery with groups, and is a constant headache for many groups administrators.

How do you find the group platform has been beneficial to photographers on dA as a whole?

We have found that the networking is easier amongst like minded photographers, although it takes dedicated members to facilitate that networking. Works are presented to a wider audience, and the learning pool has gotten a bit larger overall

Any advice for someone thinking of starting a photography group?

My advice would be, have a clear and concise purpose for your group. Have a handful of co-founders, say around no more then 4-5 that are on the same page as you when it comes to the goal of your group. It's vital to have a good relationship with your co-founders. They are the ones that take the reigns when you have other things taking up your time. No choices are made in my group without consulting with my co-founders and getting their perspective on any and all possible changes to the group and how it functions.

I would also advise that whoever is thinking about starting a photography group decide before hand if you are to have quality control in your group. If you choose to, make sure your members or potential members know this right up front. Make your quality control guidelines precise. What All-About-Film does is, all join requests are voted on. We do this for one sole purpose. At the time of acceptance we send every new member a welcome message with a link to our member FAQ/group rules. This ensures us that they have at least been shown where the rules are. I personally feel this is the best way for group members to know upfront there are rules/guidelines, and if you have a group with quality control, they will know right away.

Remember this....groups evolve as more members join, so sometimes you have to adjust your rules and guidelines to keep up. Sometimes you'll think you got all your bases covered and then a submission comes in at makes you rethink everything. This has happened countless times in many groups I have seen. It's and ever changing machine.

Most importantly, have fun with your group, and hopefully if deviant art ever gives us the "members only" forum, the fun with groups will reach greater heights.

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