Thanks to gentle nudges from Alan, I’ve wrapped up another 365photos “daily photo for a year” project for 2025 and started one for 2026. I’d marked this on Mastodon, but hadn’t mentioned anything here on my blog. Maybe I was waiting to see if I’d actually go for another round? 18 days into 2026 and it looks like I’m still doing it, so…
I started back in 2007, mostly as a way to learn to use my then-new, then-fancy Canon Rebel XT. I carried it in my backpack everywhere and got some interesting shots. I learned to use it pretty well and learned to see differently. Apparently, something clicked because years later I was able to get into a PhD program that required an “artist’s portfolio” and I got in on the strength of my photography. Who knew? #365photos was the beginning of that.
I did miss several photos in 2018 (cancer diagnosis kind of sucked the energy out of the project (and other things)), 2019 (treatment, aging parent stuff), 2020 (something about a pandemic or something, dad died), and 2021 (still stuck at home through the “tail end” of the pandemic, mom died). I got back on the wagon for 2022 and have (so far) stayed on track.
19 years later, and I haven’t touched the XT for a long time, but I still carry the lessons from those days with me. My main camera may be a phone now (my secondary camera is a tiny drone), but it’s less about the gear and more about the practice anyway.
365Photos
Screenshot of my 365photos page, displaying thumbnail images for each of the 20 years I've been doing this thing.
Image by D'Arcy Norman
There are many (many) days where I feel like I’m just phoning it in and grabbing some dumb photo to check a box. But there are many (many) more days where I’m grateful that I’ve built this as a practice because I’ve captured something that will help me to remember something I’d have otherwise let be forgotten as ephemeral.
Anyway. Here’s to another round. Or 20.