todayphoto: November 2008

Last year on the 12th of November, Alec and I went for a walk on a glorious fall day. As often happens with us, talk turned to the topic of creativity. That day, Alec had just sent me an article called "How to Be Interesting." Here, Russell Davies offered many excellent suggestions. Alec and I took him up on his first suggestion:

1. Take at least one picture everyday. Post it to flickr.

By the end of the walk, TodayPhoto was born and it’s been a tremendous honour and opportunity to do this with Alec. It’s been a wonderful and wacky year for a number of reasons and TodayPhoto has been a nice way to document it, think it through and make it last.

Last week I was in Chicago and went to a great exhibit at the Art Institute called “Henri Cartier Bresson and the Art and Photography of Paris.” Here I ran into a quotation from Gertrude Stein that has been with me all week: “One of the pleasantest things for those of us who write or paint is to have the daily miracle.” What I have liked most about TodayPhoto is that it has made me take a moment to document that daily miracle, to pin it down, to hold it, and to share it. On the days where I have thought myself too busy to stop, TodayPhoto has made me see that I need to stop and notice daily miracles. And, this year, at a particularly difficult time when it seemed like there were no daily miracles to be found, TodayPhoto made me look for them.

I think Stein’s quotation has stayed with me this week since it reminded me that I’ve been neglecting some other creative outlets this past year. And so, after discussions with Alec, I think we’ve decided to put TodayPhoto away, perhaps temporarily, perhaps not. I’ve been struggling to take and post the 500th and final photo. Alec suggested we end this with a favourite post and here is mine (along with the comment made).

I can’t quite bring this to a close but I'd like to thank everyone near and far who tuned into TodayPhoto over the past year. I'd also like to thank Alec for only not being my partner in crime in this project but also fantastic friend. I now turn this over to Alec. He who had the first word, should also have the last.

Well, perhaps not the last word but a gesture towards a new beginning. It's been great to see our experiment turn into something larger, a place to acknowledge those daily miracles and chronicle them, even in this ephemeral medium. I know both of us won't stop now and, who knows? begin to explore other themes and forums. One thing's for sure, I have been blessed to share this space with Heidi and will always welcome the chance to collaborate with her in the future.

"It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."
Barack Obama, November 4, 2008

In her lifetime, Frances E.W. Harper (1825 - 1911) was an abolitionist, activist, speaker, essayist, poet and novelist. If she did not play a direct role in the Underground Railroad herself, she knew people who did. As I walked beside the river on this very bright day, I looked across the river that many fugitive slaves crossed from the US into Canada. I was reminded of a letter Harper wrote in 1867: "... it is well for us to look hopefully to the future-for the shadows bear the promise of a brighter coming day." I'm not sure Harper could have imagined exactly how bright that day would be.