Celebrating a 365-day project
I finished my previous post on this project with a celebration. A celebration of making it through one-third of a year of this project called Days of Entropy.
I’d started this 365-day project on the 24th of August last year. I wasn’t in the greatest place at the moment after my girlfriend broke up with me, and was looking for ways to distract myself. What better way to get some distraction than picking up my camera and shoot. A project like this seemed the perfect thing to do.
A perfect Idea
Going out to shoot, and publish one photo a day for 365 days. Great stuff, right? And it was great indeed. I decided to go for square format, black and white photos, and try not to do my standard street or portrait photos. I wanted to document daily life. And I did for a while. And I really had my fun doing it, too.
I shot during my work at Inkmen Tattoos (damn, I miss working there), during my travels to Berlin and Den Haag/Scheveningen, I shot at home, at this great bar called the Gonzo Bar (I miss that too), and during many walks with my dad and by myself.
It was a challenge at times, but I got it done.
And still, it ended
So what made me decide to stop this 365-day project? Well, there’s multiple reasons:
Social Media are drag
I decided to reduce my presence on social media. I’d been doing that on my Instagram profile already, which I now only use to post a new photo when a new blog post is up. I haven’t been using Facebook that much either, but it is starting to be more of a platform of preference for me, because of the interaction. But, all in all, less time on social media, more time shooting, and working on my website with blog articles.
Less is more
I’ve always been a proponent of showing only good work. Like Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photos in any one year is a good crop” (yes, I love my quotes every now and again), I too think that people show way too many photos. I included. I had two portfolios of around 75-80 photos each on my website not so long ago! That’s way too much! For me at least.
Of course, times have changed, and due to digital photography, you make more and quicker progress and may be able to show more than 12 significant photos a year. But there’s a danger in that. When I look at my photos, what makes any one of these photos significant? What makes it a good photo? Or actually, a great photo?
If I look at my 10 years of taking photos, off the top of my head, I can name around 6 which were actually significant to me. Many others were good, or some even great photos, but way, way more have never seen the light of day, or have even landed in the garbage bin by now.
Twelve significant photos in any one year is a good crop
Ansel Adams
So why should I show 365 mediocre photos on a separate Instagram profile (which has by now been deleted) just for the sake of a 365-day project, when I haven’t even reached 6 significant photos in the last half-year, let alone in my whole career as a photographer? Time to throw this project overboard. At least in its current form. I will of course keep shooting outside of my usual street and portrait “bubble” because this project has taught me that there’s more than that alone. As I said in my previous post about this project, I photograph life. Which is beautiful in all its forms.
All is not lost
In this post, you may have seen some photos from my Days Of Entropy project. They also hint at stuff I will glance at and will try to create a series of a more minimalist or abstract nature. I have always loved my minimalism, even in my “Colors of Impermanence” series, so it will be good to incorporate this into my everyday photography again. Just not in the form of a 365-day project!
All in all, this was a beautiful learning experience, which has given me the stuff to think about, and inspiration for the days, weeks, months, and years to come. I’ll keep the Instagram account, for now, let’s see when a new challenge presents itself which I can show over there.
~ B.B.
