A Photo a Day

More than 200 days ago, on my 25^th birthday I took a photo of the new TARDIS apron my parents had bought me. I had known for a few days that I wanted to start a daily social media ‘project’ but it wasn’t until I took that photo that I knew for sure it would be a photo a day.

srsly though, great present. 

By the third day I was already struggling for ideas of what to photograph. I didn’t want to take boring pictures of my dinner, and I didn’t want to only take selfies, and I was already on struggle street. On days like today, when I haven’t left the house, I will often have to contrive a reason for a photo. Many times this means taking a photo of something I’m eating, or of my face, but more often than not it makes me do something. I’ll go for a walk, bake something or find something nice to photograph.

Initially, I felt weird about this, and some of the photos don’t seem completely genuine, it’s clear to me at least that I am guilty of glorifying the mundane in order to make my life seem more interesting for facebook. But as the days (all 208 of them) have passed, I’ve come to appreciate the impetus to do something worth documenting. Plus I’ve become more relaxed. I don’t try to force a photo as often anymore, and I’ve stopped caring if some of the photos are boring to others. Because while I have made the choice to share them publicly, I have also come to realise that the photos are more for me than for anyone else.

Since starting my weird facebook album I have had a few people ask me why I’m doing it. My answers usually vary between the rather flippant ‘I dunno, just for something to do’ and the comparatively deep, ‘because I wanted to document my life this year’. The truth probably lies somewhere in-between. I knew, on my birthday, that the next 365 days were going to be big. I was going back to full-time study, doing teaching prac and going on an overseas holiday. I also knew that I was struggling to find creative things to do with myself even when I had plenty of free time, so a ‘simple’ photo each day seemed like a nice project to do while very busy.

One of the most surprising things to me is that I’ve managed to keep up with it. While I admit that I have missed a few days here and there, I have been pretty consistent. 

Though I have created this image for emergencies.

Like the imposed regularity of a Sunday blog, making myself document a snapshot of each day has produced both not-so-great and really-quite-good results. I'm pleased I'm doing it, and I feel confident that I will always be glad that I documented this year like this. 

Graffiti on the toilet walls in the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter

I haven't yet taken a photo for today, day 209, I think I might do one of my dinner maybe, or one of my pretty face.

what a cutie