A day in the life of a photographer
Every year we set aside one day to document our daily lives. It's project we enjoy for a lot of reasons. It reminds us that every moment, mundane or exciting, is an opportunity to make a great photo. It's a reminder that documentary photography is so important to capturing personal history, and it's a reminder of how vulnerable it is to be photographed. As a group, this gives us a chance to work on one small personal project every year. This year, fellow wedding photographer and long-time friend Emilie Sommers employed her staff to participate as well. You can check out their take on the fun project HERE. I hope you enjoy our slideshows!
What do you enjoy about this project?
Capturing the seemingly mundane and making it interesting is a challenge I enjoy. I like to think there's beauty in everything we do. Weather it be walking your dog or making dinner, we should to take notice of this beauty, or in my case document it. This project is an excellent example of that.
Is there something you takeaway from doing this project?
I enjoy letting people into my world and sharing the activities and people that encompass my everyday life. I especially love documenting all the changes throughout the years. It's been six years now since I started participating in "Day in the life". Years from now I know it will be so rewarding to be able to look back on these days.
I look back on the years of documenting our lives and I'm overcome with gratitude. Not only for the photos I have from these years, but for the people who have come and gone, leaving their impression on my life. Andrew towers over me, and the twins are right behind him as Ethan and I can hardly believe it was only 6 years ago we were changing diapers. They are my loves, and my life. We've come a long way since 2007: http://lovelifeimages.com/jenndaylife/ and this year, I wanted to document us in a little different way. I hope you enjoy this little snippet of our lives.
What do you enjoy about this project?
Everything about this project was enjoyable, even the discomfort of not knowing how to execute it well the first time around. There's the sense of community knowing that others are also shooting the same day. There's permission to fail, to take risks, inherent in its structure. (there's no right or wrong way to do it). And there's the possibility of both personal and professional growth: taking on the narrative challenge as well as looking inward using the camera as a vehicle for introspection.
Is there something you takeaway from doing this project? This is my first year and what in taking away from it is my impatience to do it again already! I expect I will takeaway, from future projects, greater confidence in my narrative abilities, specifically taking the abstract goal and fashioning AMA concrete sense of the day.
What do you enjoy about this project?
I really enjoyed the idea of this project because it forced me to look for beautiful things in the everyday. Our daily routines can become mundane day after day, and this project made me look at the simple things in life in a new way. Little things like dew drops on a car, or morning fog are beautiful but often times overlooked, so I liked the fact that shooting for an entire day made me appreciate little details around me. It made me get creative with what I do and see everyday. This project also gave me some new inspiration for shooting and got me back to shooting since I had taken a break and needed something to get me back to photographing.
Is there something you takeaway from doing this project?
I would like to continue doing projects like this in the future so I guess my takeaway is the general idea of the project. I think I would like to start randomly doing this on my own, maybe monthly or every couple of months and just post them on my website to see how life may have changed and to make sure I keep looking for those precious details and the beauty in everyday.
What do you enjoy about this project?
Being able to look back anytime in the years from now and recall what I did, who I met, what my life looked like…on that particular day of the year. It reminds me to slow down and enjoy a moment of my life in time.
Is there something you takeaway from doing this project every year?
I know and I have heard that "Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day." But I.....always come up with different excuses ...there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, or thinking I haven't done anything exciting enough to take a photo. But there is always a great photo to be made and sometimes I just wish I can capture it with blink of my eye. This project forces me to carry my camera (on and ready) everywhere on that given day with no excuse. It made me get out of the house and take a walk. It made me stay inside and look around and take a photo of the inside of my house so I can see how my life has changed over the years. I am just grateful to do this project every year because it is therapeutic and I find myself more keenly aware of my blessings and priorities in life when I look back on those photos.
Our videography team participates as well, and are always super-creative with the project. Enjoy: David Morley http://vimeo.com/76533733
Zak Seidman http://vimeo.com/76534311
Skizz Cyzyk http://vimeo.com/76534310