Photo a day – how did I do?

Back at the beginning of the year I thought about taking a photograph a day throughout 2023 – how did I do and should I try again?

You can view the photographs I took here and, as you will be able to see, I was not terribly successful. I started the year well, sometimes taking random photographs of objects such as my coffee or my breakfast, and occasionally I would make an effort to go out to seek something to photograph in my local neighbourhood.

As the year went on, though, I began to skip days and then entire weeks. In May I started to keep a journal of my efforts, printing out each day’s image and writing a note about why I took the picture. I hoped this would be a method to keep me going. It did work to a certain extent and I have kept it going throughout the year on an ad hoc basis.

So what was the purpose of the exercise and should I try again?

Here are my reasons why I think I should (and you should have a go as well).

1/ Develop your photographic eye

Getting into the habit of taking photographs regularly can help develop your photographic eye, identifying what might work as an image. Of course, it is not always necessary to to actually take the photograph. You could simply observe the world as a photographer. For example, the photographer, Stephen Shore, tried to make “a mental note at random times of the day of what was in my field of vision”. Taking the photograph, however, produces an outcome which could be a part of the next reason to take a photograph a day.

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2/ Creating structure

Secondly, photographing at a set time and making it part of a routine could help add structure to the day. I work from home so it is dangerously easy to allow my days to become formless. Choosing to set aside time to go out and photograph can help add structure and form to the day. I add to this suggestion the idea of printing out your photographs and keeping a journal. I have found this a great way to ground myself.

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3/ A deep dive into a subject or a place

The photograph a day idea could be used to take a deep dive into a specific location or subject if you wanted to explore every facet of it. I discussed the idea of photographing a single location in depth before. However I did not take it to the level of this photographer in Cambridge who never left the city for the duration of the exercise. Chapeau!

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4/ Motivation to take photographs

I think the main reason, though, is that it can be a way to motivate yourself to take photographs if you are experiencing photographer’s block. It is very easy to fall out of the habit of photographing and this is one way to help find inspiration to keep taking photographs.

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Exciting news for 2024

If you have ever found yourself in the same situation where you don’t seem to have the inspiration to take photographs any more you might be interested to know that in 2024 I will be putting together my experiences of how I motivated myself in a series of videos. Watch this space for more information.