Project 366 - 2020

I am happy to report that I completed yet another Project 366! This one was my fourth and probably the hardest one to achieve to date.

I first started a Project 365 back in November 2016 as a way to practice my photography. I heard from various photographers that this project was one of the best ones to drastically improve your skills. What started off as a technical challenge for me, ended up with being so much more than that. Yes, my photos got better and I learned various editing techniques. But I also documented my family like I had never done before.

This most recent project was definitely the most challenging one out of all of them. I started it with a lot of enthusiasm on 1st January 2020, thinking this new year is going to be a great one, full of amazing adventures and unforgettable moments…. and we all know how the rest of the year went. When the pandemic hit, I even thought shooting daily was a good idea as it would help me capture this very strange time for our family. But the more time we spent at home, the more ‘bleh’ I felt about this project. How many times can I photograph the kids in the park, during our daily walks? How many more photos could I take in our house, in our garden? I lost the motivation for a bit as our daily life was so…. mundane (as everyone else’s). But I stuck with it, I didn’t give up. I knew it would be worth it.

And you know what? It was worth it.

I may have not created many amazing masterpieces this past year and some (a lot?) of the photos are just plain boring, but I did it. And now, after 366 days of daily shooting, I look back at these images and they remind me what 2020 looked like for us. What a year it was! Definitely one to remember. And it wasn’t all SO BAD. We still had plenty of good moments. Plenty of good days. Plenty of smiles and adventures. We even travelled to Poland, twice!

And you bet I will be printing these photos in a nice photo book and displaying it proudly on my bookshelf. And that book will remind me that perseverance pays off, even on days when you just can’t be bothered anymore. The hard work is always worth it.

Anyway, here are my monthly grids from Project 365 – 2020! And if you want to start this project for yourself, I shared some tips on how to approach a Project 365.