365 Self-Portrait Project, Reboot.
Posted by John on January 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 am · 6 Comments
flickr is a wellspring of photographic creativity. For one, I’m exposed to the works of thousands of pros and amateurs who take pictures of every conceivable subject. Then there are flickr groups and challenges, that encourage members to keep my perspective fresh and push me to explore my artistic and creative limits.
There are a number of “365″ self-portrait groups on flickr, but they generally share the basic requirements that:
- you take and post one photo of yourself per day;
- you or some part of you has to be in the image (some folks extend this to shadows and footprints, and pictures of old photos);
- you have to set up and take the picture (you can use a timer or remote, or even set up the shot on a tripod then have someone else push the button)
I tried the 365 project once before. I think I made it for about two months before I got tired of it. It was a good experiment. Some good shots came of it, and I documented what was an emotionally difficult time for me, but in the end there were too many submissions that were in the uninspired key of “it’s the end of the day, I’m tired, and here’s my obligatory 365.” Here are a couple of favorites:
I rebooted the project for 2010, and this time I’m taking into account where my last project failed. I’m allowing myself to take multiple pictures per day, when I have the time to set things up. I find that my time and ideas come in bunches. It also gives me time to let some ideas simmer and deepen. Ultimately, I’d like to have 365 creative self-portraits on December 31st, even though it may not represent a picture captured of me on each and every day.
I wonder what I can learn from this as I unsuccessfully pressure myself to write every day.
The following images are from my 2010:365 set:
Tags: Creativity. · Photos
