Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent which means that it has been exactly a year since I began my photo a day project. This is the last post in the series. I'm going to print a book of these pictures, which will be more difficult than other photo-books I have printed, in the past, for two reasons: firstly, the sheer number of images; and secondly because I want to include some observations on the whole process.
I first became serious about taking photographs when I was 18. My commitment to the craft of photography has waxed and waned over the years, largely depending on the restrictions of time and money imposed by the rest of my life, but since my retirement 8 years ago has moved decisively towards centre stage. Part of that is a fulfilment of the heriditary disposition of human beings to create art. Part of it is the way photography dovetails so neatly into my spiritual practice. Holding a camera forces me to see: to look at what is around me and, as far as I am able, to recognise my own inner visual filters and bypass them. The camera invites reflection on why I am attracted to particular shapes and patterns and flows and movements. In taking a photo I am constantly faced with issues of community: who am I taking the picture for? What do I want them to see?
This project of a photo a day hasn't been about taking pretty pictures, although there are a few images amongst the 365 which I really like. It has been about recording: recording my life; that is to say, about recording my ψυχη (psyche) as it has expressed itself and been informed by the world around me over the past year.
So here's the last 7 pictures.
