It's almost the end of June (where did the time go?!?) and that means I'm at the midpoint of my 52-photos-one-photo-per-week challenge (I never did come up with a snappier name...oops). And here's the thing: I know all last year I was doing my photo-a-day thing and monthly wrap-ups that said something like oh well even though I didn't get exactly 30 (or 29 or 31) photos because I spent the month in a darkened cave of a theater I still love this project oo look how many pictures of the sky I now have! But that was just a big 'ole lie to myself. Lies, I tell you, lies!! The parameters of the project (that I created for myself, mind you...way to go, Mar) were just not conducive to my lifestyle, and that stressed me out to no end. So at the beginning of this year (2014), I took a good long look at my current photography habits and future photography goals and gave myself a much more manageable challenge - take one good photo per week that accurately portrays or evokes my state of being during the week in question.
And boy, do I love this project. There is so much freedom in not having to frantically search around every day for that perfect photo. Instead, I have an entire seven-day span in which to really ask myself what it is I want to portray. Granted, there have been some weeks when I've had a bounty of pictures to choose from (I've smattered some of the "rejected" ones throughout this post). I've had the luxury of going on a few vacations and for a few long photo walks around the city which resulted in a handful of pretty great images - but in those cases, the name of the game is editing - something I never had to do in the previous year. I now find myself looking at a series of pictures taken over the course of a few days or a few hours, and though I love them all, I can only chose one to represent the week - which in turn creates a really fascinating way of reflecting over the past seven days.
Without even meaning to, I'm focusing heavily on the changing seasons. Rather than a bunch of selfies and random pictures of friends (which I was secretly afraid I was going to do), my photos are a visual representation of the polar vortex winter we all went through and then the collective relief we all felt when the weather finally calmed down - I went from wool hats and snow-covered cityscapes to budding plants, short skirts, and every public green space I can find in the city.
But most of all, these pictures represent me - my little journey through one year as a now-30-something female in New York City. The food I eat. The sights I visit. The drinks I consume. The friends I keep. The vegetables I learn to grow. These snapshots are little slices of even smaller moments of my life, and I love that about this project. I am so happy that I decided to scrap the photo-a-day thing and instead focus on one photo per week. It's a schedule that I can keep - it works with my life, not against it, and it's just the right amount of push I need to keep me creatively inspired and snapping away.
52 photos is my personal challenge to take one awesome picture per week in 2014. All photos were taken by me on either my iPhone 5s or Cannon EOS Rebel T3i (my "big girl" camera). If edited, I use Snapseed, Instagram, or Adobe Lightroom. Follow me - @maspad - to see these and many more pics!
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