Image shot with F.Zuiko 38mm f1.8 and processed with Vintage Film Lightroom presets
I’ve not really been giving these individual #leesixtyfive updates titles but if I did, this 10th one could well be called from the archives or similar.
In previous chapters, I threatened to raid the bank of photographs shot during the making of but not used for the project, as a way of catching up.
Now I’ve finally done it, and photographs 271 to 300 are 100% from that.
Some may consider it cheating on a 365 project but when I’ve already switched from one-per-day to 365 in 365 days, I don’t see how it matters.
More than that, as I’ll explain below, I prefer to look at the positive side of doing it.
Contents
The process vs the result
From what I can gather from Twitter conversations, a lot of people do a 365 project for the process rather than the result.
That is, the discipline of the process. If sticking to a strict one-per-day schedule means having a few filler photographs in there, that’s okay.
It’s the process that takes precedence.
As a visual diary, the final set of images will be special to the creator whatever they contain. I started off with this plan too but quickly changed my mind.
As I slipped behind schedule, the result became more important than the discipline of the process.
I’m not here to judge anyone else’s projects, although you’re free to judge my disregard for the discipline of the process if you like. I just don’t want a picture of my laptop keyboard or coffee cup in the #leesixtyfive.
It’s a street photography project first and foremost and that’s what led to ditching the one-per-day rule. If it was that or nothing, we wouldn’t have even got a month’s worth of shots.
A while ago, I wrote a post about how the process is the result. The concept makes comparing a pure, one-per-day 365 project to the way I’m doing it kind of irrelevant because all that really matters is what they creator gets out of it.
Someone doing one shot per day might take from that process the discipline and daily gratification.
Doing it my way, some things I’m taking from the process are the pride in creating a set of photographs I want to create, and an improvement (in my opinion) and development of a style in my street photography along the way.
Maybe that wouldn’t happen so much if I could sack off random days with pictures of a pot plant or rain on my window.
Making hay while the sun doesn’t shine
I knew I had to dig into the archives and publish previously unused shots if I’m to have any hope of completing this project.
What I didn’t realise was how time-consuming and mentally tiring this would be. Would I be better off just going out and making more photographs?
Thankfully, the weather was kind, as a week of summer rain made my mind up for me.
Another reason I had to get these shots sorted, edited and uploaded was that I needed to know how many more I’d need once the weather got good again.
As there are more old shots to come in the next instalment, I’m still not sure what that number will be.
There’s a balance to be struck in using genuinely good enough images from the archives and using not good enough ones just to pad out the numbers. I’ve actually got a ‘not sure’ folder containing a few images that I’d probably prefer not to use, but will do if I have to.
Although providing it doesn’t keep raining until this thing’s end date, I’ll only have myself to blame if I end up having to do so.
Reaching another milestone
In amongst all this talk of whether I’m even doing this right and how I’ve spent the last few days editing old photographs that will mess up the chronological order of my uploads, it should probably be mentioned that we’ve now hit the 300 mark.
A couple of weeks ago, I genuinely thought I’d fall short of 365 and have to settle at around 300.
While I still don’t know if I’ll reach 365, I do know I’ll reach and surpass that recently estimated lower figure.
I already have of course, hence the title of this update, and with a few more old photos still to use in the next one plus time still left to shoot some new ones to end the project with.
Whether that’ll be enough to get me up to 365, I don’t know.
All I can do is try.
