Day 1 of a Photo a Day: Maddy's Sexennial Photo-a-Day Party

An entire year covered her living room wall.

Tonight, my friends and I danced, swapped strange costumes, and were all the while immersed in some beautiful art. Tonight I was inspired to stop keeping my own art to myself. Thank you, Maddy.

Maddy has been taking one photo per day, every day, for the past 6 years. I met her tonight at her sexennial photo-a-day party. She uses a film camera that she's had since she was a kid to take her photos. She was inspired to start the project after visiting a gallery showcasing the polaroids taken by Jaime Livingston, who took a photo every day for eighteen years. The last picture in his series was taken on the day of his death in the hospital.

I took a photo per day from 2010-2011, but didn't extend the practice beyond the 365 days I had challenged myself with. Having my camera on me every day allowed me to take some of my favourite pictures of all time. I definitely improved my skills by practicing my art daily. It was difficult, it required considerable discipline and was at times inconvenient, but it was rewarding.

Doing this challenge digitally means that I won't just be taking one photo per day, but often hundreds. My photos won't always be the most technically impressive (I know this from my previous year and a few different failed attempts at the challenge), but they will be my favourite photo of the day. Sometimes I might take my photo on my horrible phone's horrible camera. The best camera is the one that you have on you, and if that's all I've got, that's all I've got.

I'm excited. I will be writing a post to accompany each photo. They won't all be long..but the prospect of improving upon my photo skills, memory, discipline, and informal writing abilities all at once is very cool.

Maybe I will have a photo party at the end of the year, too. I want to share my work and my stories here, but there's something awesome and powerful in that which is tangible. Only time will tell if I'm able to keep at it, but I believe in me.

#PhotoaDay