When I first started reading about Project 365, for which people commit to taking one photograph a day, it sounded like fun and something that might be interesting, but I thought it would be pretty easy for me. I take a lot of photographs — I have over 3,000 on Flickr.
So in the fall of 2006, I decided that I’d try it, starting on January 1, 2007. I told all my friends, read a little more about it, looked at other people’s collections, and was all set to go. But on New Year’s Day, I went to my sister’s house over a hundred miles away, and somehow left my handbag behind, with my wallet, my phone and my camera. I probably could have figured out some way to take a picture, but by the time I got home, it was late, I was tired, and I just wanted to go to bed. I could have started a few days late when I got my camera back — there’s no magic about starting January 1 — I didn’t want to. I decided that 2007 was “ruined” for Project 365, and that I needed to wait for 2008.
So on January 1, 2008, I began the project. I set up a separate set on Flickr, and decided on this format for the title : Day 1 : January 1, 2008. I joined the Project 365 group. And I started taking pictures. The idea is not just that you take at least one photograph a day, the point is to choose one image for each day. I planned to careful choose my photographs, selecting an image that would represent the day.
On the first day, it was easy. I always take the Christmas tree down on January 1 — I always want to be done with the holiday season, and get ready for the new year, so a picture of all the pile of Christmas trees at the nearby park waiting for the annual bonfire seemed appropriate. On the second day, I was in Andover for a meeting at Phillips Academy, and took a late afternoon photo of the snowy campus as I was leaving. The next day it was extremely cold, and I took a picture of my dog looking up, hoping for a walk that I just wasn’t willing to give her. And then I was pretty much out of ideas.
But I stuck with it, despite the fact that I have always found it difficult to stick to any resolutions. About twice a year, I buy a new bottle of vitamins and plan to take them one a day, faithfully, an easy enough habit, you’d think, but not for me. I’ve never made it for more than a week before I start skipping days, and then just stop. But I stuck with the photographs, making sure that I not only took at least one photograph a day, but I uploaded, selected and added my chosen photograph to my Flickr set that same day.
January was a difficult month for me to be doing this. The Christmas lights and decorations are gone, and it’s just cold and dark. Weekdays, it’s all I can do to drag myself to the office on time, and after work I don’t really feel like doing much but going home. There’s always the dog, but I want to try to save her for days when she’s doing something extra cute or I’m really desperate. So I tried to be a little creative, and took pictures of my Slinky, my Magnetic Gyro Wheel, some colorful plastic toothpicks, my Chinese Flashcards, some colorful flowers in the grocery store, and a bowl of sugar snap peas. I went to Philadelphia to a conference, and took a few photographs there, and one of the snowy runway through the airplane window when we landed.
I tried some things that I hoped would be interesting, but mostly I tried to just keep going. When my only memory stick malfunctioned one night, I went to an all-night drugstore and bought a $10 miniature camera just so I could take some sort of picture before midnight. While I was attempting to get it to work, I only got one picture, an odd and ugly black and white thing that looks like an ultrasound. But I uploaded it anyway, so I wouldn’t miss a day. Last night I was feeling tired and uncreative, so when I stopped at the pizza shop on the way home, I took a totally boring photo there just to get it done.
And now I have successfully completed my first month. It doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, but for me, it’s a significant. Now if I can only keep it going for the whole year…
- 366 : A Photo a Day for 2008 — My set on Flickr
