It's time to take stock of how things are progressing on my first 'photo blog'...
Many photographers will find that they take at least one photo a day, not surprising considering the accessibilty of 3G phones and other devices, it's incredibly easy to accumulate images. However, there are a percentage of those that are taken with a purpose in mind, part of some deeper context. These are the makings of a photo project. Photographers, professional and amateur, are choosing to share their projects online as a blog, a 365. And that is what I chose to do at the beginning of this year.
So, since January 1st 2012, I have taken a picture and added it to my blog My 365 London. My subject matter is the common-place, or the vernacular. Each day I will post an image that features a number captured from my everyday life: at home, at work, in the street. Wherever I happen to be. Some of the numbers will have some significance to me, as I consider pre-emptively what and where certain numbers might be representing (like the 134 bus). Others will be entirely random.
The images themselves are on Flickr, in my set of the same name, My 365 London.
I originally thought that I would take all kinds of images in various places but that has not turned out to be the case:
Firstly, I have not had many occasions to take out the DSLR this month, given the cold weather here. Except on two projects, Highgate Wood in the snow and taking traffic light streaks on the A406 North Circular. On these occasions, I didn't find any numbers to use! Instead, I have ended up taking pictures with just my iPhone.
As an amateur photographer, I would normally spend my week stuck in an office, with little opportunity to explore London, except at weekends. Evenings are often limited, particularly in the dark, long winter months. So my images have mostly come about from my wonderings around my immediate home in Muswell Hill, the daily bus commute, or my lunch hour.
But I have not let this deter me, it has just required me to focus my attention in more detail. Inevitably, I have given some ideas some forethought, so this could be my usual bus route, the 134, or perhaps my front door number, but I don't want to spoil the surprise!
Finally, in using my phone for all the images so far, I have used some of my favourite tools like HDR Pro, Snapseed and Instagram itself, my 'vehicle' for file upload to Flickr. Thus, all my images have become the standardised square format. In some ways, this standard gives a certain flow through all the images.
It will be interesting to reflect on how the blog has evolved after 6 months!
