Connections
A map of photography, drawn by photographers.
No algorithm decides which works belong together on Bentwall. Photographers do, by connecting their own work to the work that speaks to it.
Only someone with work on the wall can connect, and always from a work of their own.
Every connection is shared with the photographer whose work it points to. Nothing is anonymous.
Nothing appears on a work’s page unless both photographers say yes.
Connections are not counted, scored or used to order the wall. Newest first stays newest first.
How it works
Four steps, a minute at most
- Open any work on the wall and choose “Connect one of your works to this”. You’ll see it once you have work of your own on the wall.
- Pick one of your works and say how they relate. If you have many, search them by title or tag.
- Save it. The other photographer is told that you connected your work to theirs, and which works. Nothing changes on either page.
- If you’d like it on the wall, tick “Ask to show it on both works’ pages”. If they accept, each work shows the other under “Connected works”. You can also ask later, from Hang your work.
Saying how
Four ways two works relate
- In conversation with
- Two works that answer each other: a shared mood, a question and its reply, the same idea seen twice.
- Inspired by
- Your work owes something to theirs. It reads in both directions: “Inspired by” on yours, “Inspired by this” on theirs.
- Same light or technique
- Made the same way: a lighting set-up, a process, a lens, a darkroom method.
- Same place or series
- Taken in the same place, or part of the same body of work. The natural way to hold a series of your own together.
Why connect
Feedback that means something
A like is a stranger passing by. A connection is a photographer pointing at the exact picture that spoke to them, and answering it with a picture of their own.
For you
Tell a photographer their work mattered to you, in the most precise way there is. And be found by the people looking at the work you admire.
For the photographer you connect to
A sign their work reached someone who looks closely, and a reason to look at yours. Posting stops being the end of it.
For everyone visiting
A way through the wall by meaning rather than by date: from one photograph to the next, because a photographer saw the link.
What comes of it
On the wall, behind it, and between you
- On the wall. Connections both photographers agreed to show sit under each work, so a visitor can move from one photograph to its neighbours.
- Behind the wall. Every connection, shown or not, adds to a map of how photographs relate, drawn entirely by the people who made them. In time it lets Bentwall point visitors to related work that photographers chose, never an algorithm’s guess. A connection made by one photographer is never shown publicly on its own.
- Between you. Every connection starts with the other photographer hearing from you. Messaging between photographers is on its way, so a connection can become a conversation.
The fine print
Kept fair, kept quiet
What you can do
- Connect any of your works on the wall to any other work on the wall
- Show up to 5 connections on each work, and keep up to 30 more that aren’t shown
- Ask to show a connection later, or remove one you made, at any time
- Take down a shown connection on your work at any time, whoever made it
What keeps it fair
- Photographers are emailed at most once an hour; everything else waits on Hang your work
- A declined request can’t be repeated, and a connection the other photographer took down can’t be asked for again
- Work with nudity stays covered in connections and emails, as everywhere on Bentwall
- When a work comes off the wall, its connections go with it
Everything about your connections is on Hang your work: requests waiting for you, connections to your work, and the ones you made. How we handle the data is in the Privacy Policy.
Start with a work you love
Find it on the wall and connect one of yours to it. If you don’t have work up yet, that’s the first step.