“I have a photo project,” she said.
“What kind of photo project?” asked the other.
“One photo every day.”
She snorted. “Yeah, like THAT’S never been done before.”
“I know it’s been done before, but I don’t care. This is my own thing.”
“TRA LA LA. Bor-ing. How is this different from the other million photo-a-day projects out there?”
“Well, first of all, I’m taking the photos with my iPhone.”
“YAWN.”
“And I’m using a polaroid filter on each one to give it a dreamy retro kind of look. I love the irony, the instant digital photo posing as the instant polaroid of years gone by … ”
“Sigh.”
“AND I’m going to take one photo every day for as long as I can.”
“Well good luck, I guess.”
“What do you mean I GUESS?”
“Your project is going to fail because (a) you are going to lose interest and (b) it’s not going to stand out. You haven’t told me what makes this project unique.”
“Unique?”
“Yes! You need to get noticed.”
“I don’t need to get noticed.”
“So why bother?”
“Why? This is just for me. I am doing this for myself.”
“So why brag about it?”
“I’m not bragging!”
“Oh yes you are. LOOKIT ME LOOKIT ME AND NOW CREE_AY_TIV I am! If this was only for YOU you wouldn’t tell anyone. You’d keep it in a drawer and leave it at that.”
“Haven’t you heard the expression, dance as if no one is watching? Well, I’m dancing. Besides, there’s a difference between sharing with friends and BRAGGING. I am pretty sure there’s a handful of people out there who might be interested. What’s wrong with telling them about it?”
“What’s wrong? Well, once people start following your progress it will change everything. You will approach your photos differently, more carefully, and it will change your outcome. Awareness taints. It won’t be pure because it will stop being about you, it will become about satisfying your audience. For example, what if you knew someone was looking through your photos and was aiming to give you a book deal? You would alter your output. Admit it, YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR A BOOK DEAL.”
“To be honest this could never be a published piece, the photos aren’t exactly high-res and -”
“Oh stop avoiding the question.”
“I’m not avoiding the question. If I thought this was going to wind up one someone’s coffee table it would be different, you’re right. And I like it the way it is, no pressure. Think about the difference between a blog post and a published piece. The blog posts pour out of me and are largely unedited. But I put a lot more time and energy into work I’m hired to do. These daily photos are blog posts, not fine-tuned pieces destined for other purposes.”
“Alright already. Gawd. You do tend to go on about things. So it’s one photo a day?”
“Yes, well, no. It’s more than just a photo. Each one is somehow meaningful. Each has some kind of significance. Each one is a moment in time, captured in this format along with a short caption.”
“If this is about the image, why are you making more work for yourself with captions?”
“I thought about it and I realized my photos lose meaning very quickly if there is no text attached to them. Have you ever found a photo but can’t identify the people in it? That’s why I’m adding captions. This is a visual diary of sorts, but it only logs a single moment or thought or experience each day. It’s an autobiography with a whole lot of pages torn out.”
“Alright then smartypants, it’s your own thing, and you’re dancing, and you don’t care yadda yadda. Let’s just get started.”
“I already have.”