I think, at this point, we all know how much I love setting goals, particularly when it comes to New Years. (Not saying I always manage to follow through, but I’m not too bad.) I’m still working on my plans for 2016, but one thing I knew I wanted to do was some sort of regular photography project, something to get me out and shooting for myself, even when I didn’t really feel inspired.
I’ve done 365 projects in the past, but that wasn’t really what I wanted this time. I wanted each photo to be work, something that I had to think about and/or stretch my skills for, and a 52-week challenge felt a little more realistic.
And, so, here we are:
Fifty-two prompts, one for each week in 2016. (Week One is technically nine days, because the year starts on a Friday.) Most have some technical aspect to them, some are purely creative. Some can be done in a matter of minutes, some require planning and preparation and an entire week to complete. All are open to a certain degree of interpretation.
If you’d like to take part, I’d love to have you. I’ll be posting reminders of each prompt on Sunday mornings, and watching the hashtag #rs52Challenge2016 on Instagram and Twitter. (I’ll also be opening comments on each prompt, so you can leave a link to your work.) I’ll share my own photos later in each week (here, and on social media), and, if others want to take the challenge, I’ll share the best contributions each week. (I am going to give myself some leeway, here—if I’m down with a cold and it’s raining, I’m not going to force myself to go out and shoot—but I am going to try to get each prompt done within the week, and, if I can’t, I will get it done as soon as possible. All 52 prompts will be done and posted by the end of 2016.)
The first prompt goes up on 1 January.
UPDATE (5 August 2016): I’m having some technical difficulties, and while the project is still ongoing, posts related to it are going to be on hold for a little while. More Info.
UPDATE (31 August 2016): Ok. My computer issues are basically sorted. I’m still behind on the project, but prompt posts will resume as usual, and I should be able to get back on track with my own responses very soon. (Fingers crossed!)
UPDATE (17 December 2016): Um.
My own attempt at this particular project kind of fizzled. There are reasons. Some of them are good, some of them aren’t, but in the end, I’m basically comfortable with how it turned out. I talk about it a bit more in my annual review.
The TL;DR version: I’m glad I did it. I don’t feel too bad about stopping when I did. And if you’ve made it this far: you’re awesome. Send me a link so I can admire your work!
Reghan Skerry 