A PICTURE A DAY (2008) A SOUND A DAY (2009) December 30, 2008
Posted by taylor in Uncategorized.trackback
on january 1st, 2008 i began a project where i would take one polaroid picture every day of 2008. it’s been a fun, challenging, and sometimes frustrating endeavor.. but i now have 363 polaroids.. with 2 days to go.
the most rewarding aspect of this project has been the fact that every day i have been forced to LOOK. most often the best photograph has been missed at the hope a better one would be around the corner… although, the project was not about the “best” photography.. but rather more of a diary of seeing.
as this year draws to a close i have been thinking to 2009. a picture a day was very challenging.. do i give myself a break.. freedom from carrying the polaroid with me every day.. freedom from having to constantly be on the lookout… or, was the forcing of this creative project on me every day a priceless exercise?
well, never one to rest, i have decided that in 2009, starting on january 1st, of course, i will carry a small digital audio recorder with me every day of the year and record one sound per day throughout 2009. i rarely work with “field recordings.” as a musician i do not incorporate them much into my music. however, as a musician i am always listening. this exercise will not only force me to listen more carefully every day, but open my own sound palette, expanding into field recording.
i will not set a time limit on each day’s recordings, but rather make each recording as long as it needs to be to capture whatever it is i’ll be capturing. along with the recorder i will carry a small notebook and make a note of date and time as well as location and “subject.”
if 2008 was a year of seeing every day, 2009 will be a year of listening. the death of Polaroid has made the polaroid-a-day difficult to continue. my project was timely. needless to say, as a photographer, i will never stop looking.. nor will i rarely be caught without a camera, but to form a year’s worth of living and travelling with an audio diary will be a new way for me to experience the year.
happy new year!
12k 
great idea taylor! you’ll have to post some sounds.
[…] his first entry on the subject (at 12kblog.wordpress.com, the blog where he is posting the MP3s), he describes his […]
wow that’s a really interesting idea, certainly one i’d never thought of doing myself!
I’ve now got a dictaphone and will certainly consider a project like this – maybe something like quote of the day, maybe that’s another one for next year – you start with the best intentions but it doesn’t always work out like that i guess!