Hello Flickr friends, photographers, and fellow creatives! My name is David Talley. I’m a guest contributor here on the Flickr Blog and the host of Concept Collaboration, the world’s largest conceptual photography collaboration, which Flickr is supporting.

We just wrapped up our first concept from January, with a mix of incredible and thought-provoking images from creatives around the globe, collaborating on a central theme. The title of that theme was “The Catalyst of Light.”

“The Catalyst of Light” was born out of the desire to see photographers around the world challenged to create from a place of dynamic, beautiful, and catalytic change. The heart of the concept — the emotional change from darkness to light, good to bad, evil to love — brought with it some incredible emotions. We asked photographers what that looked like to them, and the results were stunning.

Here are some of our favorite collaborations from awesome Collaborators and Flickr members from last month:

“Her Shadow” by Elisabeth Mochner

“Thunder Inside” by Ivana Figeuroa

“Last Light” by Mike Alegado

One of our favorite facets of Concept Collaboration is choosing the most promising photographer of the month to win a package of art-enabling prizes to unlock the potential in their creative pursuits. After reviewing all 135 incredibly creative submissions for “The Catalyst of Light,” we are happy to elect Kent MacDonald as our most Creative Collaborator of the month!

His image, titled “Time Traveling” captured the concept of “The Catalyst of Light” – a rising moon on a dark horizon, the light eclipsing the dark and exposing each detail – and most importantly, how huge that light was, outshining the darkness. Kent is currently working on a 365 project, a year-long photo undertaking that has transformed many Flickr photographers, including myself. Check this guy out!

“Time Traveling” by Kent MacDonald

We’ll be releasing the new Collaboration theme the first Monday of every month. For February, we’ll be collaborating on the concept “The Spiral,” a dissection of the way we get caught in the emotions and situations of life as a whole. “The Spiral” will highlight human connection, emotion, passion, and obsession in an artistic and beautiful way. We hope to see a common theme arise in these images, just as we have with “The Catalyst of Light.” Read more on “The Spiral” here.

To participate, head to Concept Collaboration and learn more. Or you can upload your photos to Flickr with the tags #ConceptCollaboration or #ConceptCollab and they will automatically be added to the Concept Collaboration Flickr group.

#keepcollaborating