The diary or the 365 story

At the begining of 2024, I posted my intention to start a photographic visual diary. Some might call it a 365 project/challenge/(insert whatever name you want) but it’s the same thing. I mentioned back then that

Wesley Verhoeve

describes it very well in his post which was a source of inspiration for me. Before we go any further, I think you deserve to know that I finished the self-imposed 365 days.

During the year I posted a few updates about the ongoing project. The first one was a bit over a month after I started and it refers to my disappointment about the results from the Ricoh camera used to start the diary and future plans.

Two weeks later, another update and another disappointment as the follow-on camera was a disaster. I took it with a pinch of salt and consider it an experiment. The March update presented a few lessons learned and the use of a very small digital camera.

In May as part of the same visual diary I presented a new aquisition: the fully plastic PN919 camera and the surprisingly good quality images coming from it. I can go on with more examples from the diary but it is not what I want with this post. What I want is to present my conclusions.

Is it worth keeping a visual diary? Yes, without any doubt. Why? Before anything, it teaches you consistency, it teaches you to get into a habit of doing what you like - taking photos. If you plan to start a visual diary, you have to understand few things:

• Nobody is forcing you to do it but if you want to do it, you better force yourself.

• There are many ways of doing it: a single camera for the year, a single film type for the year, all analogue, all digital, a mix of analogue and digital, but in the end none of them matters. What matters is for you to do it. Now, if you can manage to do it all … film, fair play to you, my hat off.

• It is not a competition, it is a self imposed habit.

• The results doesn’t matter: it doesn’t matter if the photos are colour or black&white, it doesn’t matter what is the subject in the photos, it doesn’t matter if the photos are focused or blured, all it matters is that you take the photos.

• With a bit of consideration, on top of creating a habit, you can create a body of work that can be used afterwards. It is not necessary but if you want to create that body of work it is better to take notes about each photo (location, day, time, maybe technical info about aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc, and maybe why you took the photo).

• Learn from others and when in need, ask for help - there’s no shame in asking. Motivation is the key for this type of project.

• Show some results during the process and don’t forget to be proud with your progress.

Am I happy with what I’ve done? Of course I am, very happy. Am I going to do it again? No. Why not? Well, because in October, after 10 months, I realised that I’m doing it anyway. Part of my every day job is to record what’s happening and that includes photos - digital photos taken with either a camera or my phone. Basically, I was doing the same thing twice. The realisation didn’t stop me to finish what I started, brought the project to the end but I won’t start it again. Well, maybe after retirement I will give it another try, who knows. I know that I can do it and I trust you can do it too. Wishing you all the best in your adventure!