Project 1522
One thousand, five hundred and twenty two, 1522… whichever way you write it, it’s an impressive number for someone like me who’s never been that good at marathons. I’m more a sprinter myself. But that’s how many images stretch between 1 November 2020, the first day of my Day by Day project and 31 December 2024 when I captioned my last photo simply: The End. Of what? And why? Day by Day has been a journey, both photographic and through life. A journey much longer than I had ever intended, one day, one image, some good, some bad, most mediocre, but each and every one accompanied by a memory, a place, a person, a moment, an emotion over 1522 days in which both I and my life have changed more than once. Win some, lose some, lose some… That’s just the way it is.
Now is neither the time nor place to draw up an existential balance sheet, and I’m not sure I’d have the courage. I can though say with certainty that this meandering voyage between enforced creativity and technique has taught me a very great deal, both about photography and about myself.
As a photographer, I’m known (if at all) for my nature and macro images, with a special eye for plants and arthropods, the smaller the better. But as I scroll through Day by Day, these aren’t the images that pull me in. Instead I’m somewhat surprised to find myself drawn instead to the more abstract, more intimate images, often monochrome, often almost minimalist. A lesson duly learnt.
So now to the why. I started this journey at the height of the Covid epidemic, when a series of lockdowns made my usual photographic nature wanderings not just difficult, but also illegal. So I turned my lens and my attention to the little things around me, a lighter, a candle flame, keys, an orange, or whatever I could see through my window. The result was a bizarre hotch-potch of images without rhyme or reason and no idea what to do with them. The only common denominator was the slow and laborious progress of time through a period as surreal as many of my images… and so Day by Day was born.
That’s how it all began, so why end it now, after more than four years of (mostly) gratification? The reason doesn’t make me at all proud, I’m ashamed to admit, I’m a snob. A photography snob. Everything’s just fine when I have my trusty reflex in my hands, it’s my Linus’ blanket and gives me the courage of a lion. But what about when bringing it along is just not possible? Then if I want to keep faith with my “one day, one image vow”, I have no alternative but… to pull out my smartphone. And that’s when I freeze, while every ounce of creativity seeps away. Because all this happy snapping on the smartphone business just makes me cringe and I squirm with embarrassment to find myself part of the phenomenon, even momentarily. Of course this reaction is nonsensically and reprehensibly snobbish. I’m well aware. And I apologise most humbly to all those enthusiastic smartphone photographers who find great pleasure, satisfaction and often excellent results through this tool, always so readily at hand. But it’s not for me. Not yet at least.
Project 1522You see, I love not so much photographs as the whole business of photography itself, and that includes post-processing, whether in that hot, sweaty improvised darkroom under the stairs in the good old days of film, or sitting comfortably in front of a screen in the even better (and certainly cheaper) new days of digital. The camera has saved me from anxiety and depression more than once and may well do so again… as long as my eyesight lasts. It has given me a voice since adolescence and when, several decades ago, poverty prevented me from buying and developing film, I still took photos with my eyes and saved them in my own personal memory bank where they remain vivid to this day. Would a smartphone snap have done better? Absolutely not. The last four years have taught me this and much, much more, but now it’s time for a change. So I hereby declare the “Day by Day” project officially closed and rebaptised: “Project 1522”. So folks, what’s next?
The idea was to accompany these words with a reasoned selection of the top images from these four years and more. Not a chance! The images are too varied, too closely bound to personal experiences and emotions. In the end I just dipped my metaphorical hand into the mishmash and pulled out whatever came out first. It’s a mere 2% taste of what’s in there, so if you really have nothing better to do, you might find something you like hidden in the tortuous folds of: Project 1522. I hope you do.
For my Italian-speaking friends (or anyone wanting to translate into another language), I recommend DeepL translator available clicking here or also as a browser extension for Google Chrome.
Per i miei amici di lingua italiana (o chiunque voglia tradurre in un’altra lingua), consiglio DeepL translator disponibile cliccando qui o anche come estensione per il browser Google Chrome.