Of the hundreds of friends most of us have on Facebook, we will probably never have a conversation with most of them, never mind meet them face-to-face — unless you are Ty Morin, of Burlington, Conn.
The 23-year-old Hartford Art School grad plans to travel to visit every single one of his original 788 Facebook friends in person and photograph them — not with an iPhone or a digital camera, but with an old-fashioned 8x10 camera.
His project is called "Friend Request: Accepted."
Morin estimates that it will take about an hour to photograph each person.
The other part is a documentary that captures the passion that Morin's friends have for the things they love to do, whether it is sculpting, dance or body-building.
"I think it’s important to remember that everyone has a story," Morin said, even if it’s not right there on the surface.
So far, the response has been positive.
"Everyone’s onboard for helping out," Morin said.
He admits there have been a couple awkward instances along the way. It's something that has to be expected when you show up on the doorstep of someone you have not seen since middle school and ask them to show off their talents on film and video.
Initially, Morin was hoping that the people in his original friend list would help him get this project growing and they delivered by spreading the word online.
In February, Morin posted the idea on Kickstarter, a site where you come up with an idea and ask people to donate money to fund it.
He was looking for $5,000 to pay for the film. He has received more than $7,000, and there are 11 days left of the fundraising campaign as of Friday.
Morin will set off on a road trip at the end of April and hopes to photograph about 150 friends by the end of the year.
"It's quite a big task to take on by myself," he said, so he is looking to his artistic friends to travel with him and help out on the documentary part of the project.
"(I'm) looking to use a lot of friends in any way I can to help me with this," he said.
Morin knows this project will take years but says it will be worth it if he reaches his goal of exhibiting the photo series in a New York gallery that can handle 788 pictures.
"It would be a really cool experience," he said. "Kind of bring everyone back together."
He'd love the documentary to make it into film festivals, like SXSW or Sundance.
His other goal is to help people who have not found their passion to realize what they love to do.
"My passion is photos, and this project is allowing me to do that. I want other people to do what they are passionate about," Morin said.
You can learn more about the project on the Kickstarter Web site or on Ty’s blog.
