A Visual Diary for a Year

Erinnern Sie sich an den Film Smoke? An den Tabakladenbesitzer Auggie Wren, gespielt von Harvey Keitel, der jeden Tag um Punkt acht Uhr die immer gleiche Straßenecke fotografiert? Um immer das Gleiche zu fotografieren, geht es nicht beim "project365", zu dem mich vor ein paar Tagen der Berater Frank Busch eingeladen hat. Wohl aber darum, jeden Tag ein Foto zu schießen, um einen visuellen Kalender des Jahres zu erstellen. Die Einladung von Frank Busch: What is it? We are a bunch of people that are going to take one picture every day for 365 days. This is like a visual diary, so anything usual or unusual - that for you somehow symbolises the day - anything that you find picture worthy can be taken.

Why do we do it? There are many reasons, depending on what is important for you. Some people do it to enhance their photography skills, some to record the year, for some it is a creative exercise and for some a means to stay in touch. Plus, of course, it is great fun and there is a nice sense of achievement when you have done it.

Do I need a special camera? No, anything goes. Some of the really interesting shots in past projects have been done with mobile phone cameras, so no need to invest if you don't want to.

How do we do it? OK, the rules are really simple: take one picture per day for 365 days. That's it. If you take more pictures, only one can be picture of the day. If you take less than one you haven't followed the rules. There is nobody that controls this, it is just a self-imposed "law".

When do we start? You can start on any date that you like. Most of us - I guess - will start on January first, but some might take other significant days, birthdays etc.

What do we do with the pictures? Most people upload theirs to Flickr and add other people as contacts, so we can easily keep track of each others pictures. Some people may want to post to Facebook. If you want to do both then upload to Flickr - there is a function in Facebook that regularly scans your Flickr pictures and posts them to your wall. The purpose of this of course is to encourage comments and to complete this journey together. Of course you don't need to upload every day (sometimes, thank God, we are offline) but it is also good to not get too far behind.

How open is this? Who can see my pictures? That is entirely up to you. In Flickr there are different levels of privacy, so some people show their photos to friends and family, others to everyone. If you want to be part of a wider community you can also post your photos to the project365 group on Flickr.

What is next? Think about it...if you are in, let me know (E-Mail: frank.busch@fbusch.de). If you are happy for other 365ers to add you as contacts in Flickr send me your Flickr ID and I will write a second email with these IDs.