Project 365

2025 - Issue #22

Jan 27, 2026

Why photography?

A few posts ago I said I was having a photo-existential crisis. This statement prompted me to think more about this concept.

What is it that I want out of photography? Why do I do it?

For me, photography has always been about self expression and about documenting my days, whether they’re spent at home or elsewhere. It’s easy to take photos when I’m traveling, whether it’s just a day-trip or an extended stay somewhere. Something new always catches my eye. I find myself eager to have the camera with me to capture the new sights. The challenge comes in keeping that same eagerness and curiosity while living my day to day life in familiar surroundings.

What I’ve always loved about photography is very simple. It’s about

the seeing;

the composing;

the recording;

the looking back on.

I think I take photos so I can look back on them later on. They’re like a tangible, visual memory. Ever since I got my twin lens camera in 2019 I’ve had prints made of my favorites of each roll. I continue to do that with every film roll whether it’s 120 or 35mm. I place these prints in little albums and I’ll often pick one up and browse through it. I find that so much more rewarding than scrolling through the images in my digital library. I spend more time with the images when they’re printed. They mean something to me.

Shooting daily also means something to me.

And so, I think I’ll go on with the concept of a project 365 if not the actuality of it. What I mean is that I will still always have a camera on me with the intent of shooting daily, but I’m not going to strictly say I’m taking a picture every day. I want to stay open and curious about my surroundings, capturing images that genuinely inspire me rather than photographing something just to complete a daily task.

And now, back to the photos.

Is it me or does this air machine look like it’s gasping for air?

* * *

Social media has lost its allure for me but I still have an Instagram and Facebook account that I check on every now and then. On July 19th I logged on to Facebook to see if there was anything interesting happening locally and I wasn’t disappointed. Someone had posted that there was a piano being discarded in a parking lot awaiting trash pickup, unless someone wanted it, so of course I went to see if it would make for interesting photos. - Needless to say, I don’t think anyone was picking up this particular freebie.