Today is A Day in Life Photo Project, and I’m participating. I’m so excited! This is what its about:
It’s called Aday.org, and this project was initiated by the Swedish foundation Expressions of Humankind (which supports scientific research and education centered around the photographic image and the written word). They’re asking the world’s inhabitants (you!) to grab their cameras and start snapping to capture daily life and preserve moments for future generations.
They write:
Photograph on May 15th! You have one day to join thousands around the world in using the power of photography to create, share and compare perspectives on daily life! Don’t miss it! You can upload your images until May 22nd.
I didn’t know about this world wide photo event until after lunch today but when I read up about it I got very excited. This is exactly the kind of project I would start if I had the funds to make a website like aday.org! But even if it wasn’t me who started it I’ve tried to help “spread the world” by tweeting, bookmarking and pinning the project!
Even if you didn’t know that today was a big documentation day you might have snapped a few photos anyway. If they are dated 15th of May 2012 you can upload them to the site and be part of this awesome super cool project! Some photos will be included in a book, an exhibition for sure the online gallery and all photos will be archived for the future, far down in the vault of some mountain probably. That’s what I call backing up your HD!
You are only allowed to upload 10 photos to the project site, so it’s not a huge project. The themes are broad and personal: work (or unemployment), home and connection.
I’ve used my htc android smartphone, and the photo enhancing app Vignette (I use it all the time and totally love it) to document today. I think it’s quite apropriate to, in 2012, document your life using a phone camera.
After I found out about this today, it has got me thinking about change and technology:
The way we carry a camera, what we photograph (+ where and with who we choose to share them) and the filters we apply to our photos says a lot about our time. Just a few years ago the photo processing that goes on in our phones wasn’t availible until you had downloaded your photos to a computer and opened them in a editing program. A few years before that, digital photography wasn’t even invented and you had to waith 20 or 30 years until your photos got the “vintage feel” that we now apply with a push of a button! It’s amazing to think about technology is evolving, and how quickly we adapt and “forget” how we used to do things.
I’m thinking about what I personally will leave for future generations from my life… How will the future people of earth interpret my digital footprints (if they are still there in the future)?
If you can’t access aday.org you can read about the photo project here – and then snap a photo! #aday12
darn – the only photo I took yesterday was of a plant pot, probably not very interesting to the world at large :)
I also used to use Vignette a lot, and retro camera, but am now totally addicted to Instagram, have you tried it since they brought out the Android version?
Aw, I wish I’d seen this sooner! It looks like a cool project. The only picture I have from yesterday is a completely uninspired photo of a few sheets I picked up from the thrift shop.
I like Vignette, too. Lately, I’ve been trying out Pixlromatic, and that’s got an amazing number of creative filters and options. I was so excited for Instagram, but I actually am a little disappointed with the available filters. I thought there’d be more. You can’t beat Instagram’s built-in social network, though. None of the other photo apps come even close.