It is 2013, a new year and for many photo enthusiasts (like myself) an opportunity to take on the Herculean task of a photo project. I have for two years running tried to edit a photo a day as my photo project. If any of you were witness to this experiment you can attest that a lot (okay, all) of my original images were mediocre at best, but after hours in front of my computer they had an almost alchemic transformation. I was able to turn rubbish into pure gold, it was delightful and embarrassing. Who wants to show off their worse photographs? I lasted longer the second try/year then the first, but it monopolized too much of my precious time and I had to cry ‘uncle’ at around month three. This year I actually spent a month or two prior to the end of the year debating what I would do for this year’s photo project and how I would be able to achieve a modicum of success, perhaps even finish what I started. None of my grand ideas resonated with me, it all seemed so contrived and I shirk from anything that seems inauthentic. I wondered if I should even attempt it again, would I just be sentencing myself to a sort of Sisyphusism, rolling the metaphorical boulder of creative responsibility on weary shoulders up hill, only to see it descend down hill again– ad naseum? Then I decided to stop talking to myself, because when I do that it just seems to lead me into an anxious abyss, because really who cares? It’s a self-imposed photo challenge gosh darn it! It’s created to help me improve my photographs, if I shoot even one photograph for the whole project it is one photo more than I took previously thus by nature making me a better photographer by just practicing. I always make everything so much more complicated than it ever needs to be; I am good like that. On New Year’s morning my light bulb moment happened and I decided on my ‘theme’ for my Project MMXIII. Firstly, I decided on a 52 week instead of a 365. I know myself too well to know that I wouldn’t be happy just shooting an image each day, I would want to edit it as well (to the nth degree) and doing this every.single.day would not be realistic. The theme I am choosing is nature, because it’s what I have an affinity for (good idea when choosing your personal theme), but I wanted it to be more creative and not too literal. I am going to focus on abstract images in nature, think Mother Nature’s modern art if you will. I am going to be looking for shapes, colors, light & shadow. I want to find the unusual in the usual. These first photos above had a Katazome (Japanese kimono stencil) feel, which although that technique is centuries old it feels very relevant for the 21st century, both modern + clean . I am a minimalist, but Mother Nature is not, so I am not only going to be a photographer but a curator and a sleuth. I may not always go with the linear, I may delve into the soft and dreamy, I want to have a malleable ‘map’, that allows me to explore other avenues, but still gets me to my ultimate destination (in this case the 52 finish line). What I am hoping to accomplish is to become a better photographer, to challenge myself to see past the need to take the “perfect” photo (I am always lamenting that I don’t have the ‘right’ people, places or things to photograph) and just get into the moment (gosh, that sounds so new age-y). I am not an ‘in the moment’ sort of person, I spend a considerable amount of time thinking (read stressing) about the future and begrudging my past decisions. This is going to be quite the challenge for me. If you would like to join me on this adventure I am going to have a group on Flickr, you can do the same project as I am or choose a theme that you feel resonates with you. I will be uploading my results once a week both here and in the group and if applicable sharing my process (I love to share what I have learned). I hope you join me and I can last longer than 3 months! Join me here!
P.S. I know a lot of you have accomplished 365’s any advice to someone has failed multiple times?
P.P.S. These are not black & white photographs, I shot them on an overcast day which made it easy to ‘blow out the sky’ and create these deep dark colors on my subject.
I haven’t done one of these in over a month! I didn’t remember how long they take, it’s so easy to fall into an inspiration abyss. I wanted to introduce you to my Pinterest Curator of the week Mrs. French. I am well aware that 3,484,898 already follow her. I don’t know if she is the most followed person on Pinterest, but it seems that she must be way up there. There’s a reason for this, she is a prolific pinner, honestly every time I go to Pinterest she has pinned a whole bevy of new greatness, it’s non-stop. Mrs. French has a little experience in curation, as she rose to internet ‘fame’ as the woman that single handedly made Monday’s more desirable with her ‘I heart Monday’s’ series. This is where she honed (unbeknownst to her) future superior pinning skills. I love her Handsome board and PrettyPrettyPretty, but you can’t go wrong with her Photography Board (Mrs. French is a talented photographer) and for fun her Street Style board has a lot of great eye candy. You can see what all the fuss is about here and be 3,484, 899!
