365/365

 

Woah I can't believe I'm done.

 

It's amazing to think that I've captured the entire 20th year of my life in photos for this project. I can look back at any shot I've taken this past year and instantly know everything that went behind it. What I was thinking, what I did that day, and how I felt.

 

I've changed so much this past year. I remember feeling mortified just thinking of taking a photo outside in public. If a stranger walked by I would freeze and cringe in embarrassment. I started a mental game to constantly push myself. If I had a lazy day, I would break the habit by forcing myself to do one of the crazy concepts I had drawn out but was avoiding. Like wading in freezing water wearing a three piece suit, or setting myself on fire, or lugging huge props a mile through the woods, and laying half naked in a swamp of mud. I tried to make each photo better than the last, which I quickly learned wasn't possible.

 

I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I started this project. All I knew is that I liked photography and wanted to improve. It definitely wasn't the obsession it's grown to be. I figured I would start skipping days within the first week, but ended up going 147 days before I missed my first day. I would rush out in between short breaks in classes to shoot. Or shoot at night after work and rush to upload before midnight. I was a college student working as a pizza delivery driver with no career goals. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, and I'm so glad I found photography when I did. I really put everything into this project, I have never been so passionate about anything in my life. It's crazy to think of where this whole project has taken me. I spent two months backpacking through Peru and Bolivia. I spent a night in NYC for a Yahoo video series, and spent a week in Los Angeles meeting some incredible photographers who I've admired. I now know what I am going to do with my life and can't wait to see where it takes me.

 

Thank you all SO much for following my progress throughout this project. I don't think I could possibly express how much I appreciate all of you. And a huge thanks to my dad for supporting me through this and giving me critique and advice whenever I asked. And also for putting up with all my complaining during this project, I'm sure that was annoying haha. This has been the best year of my life without a doubt. And I'm far from done. I'm starting a new project within a week and will announce that soon.

 

On the day of my first photo, I went to the thrift store and bought four white bed sheets. I went home, stapled them to the walls and ceiling of my garage and posted it here on flickr. I wanted my final photo to be a play on this. How this project has grabbed onto me, and engulfed everything. How it is something that surrounded me and never stopped growing.