Monochrome 365; Conclusion

On August 31st, in Lisbon, I concluded my year-long 365 Monochrome Project.  My initial reactions were of relief, happiness and accomplishment. Relief in the way of being free for a bit from a daily task and now looking back at the work, I am feeling extremely accomplished and proud of the images that I made. From the streets of Poznan to my new home in Warsaw to concluding in Lisbon, the project followed me everywhere in all of the lovely seasons.

Not always an easy task having to produce a single image every day for a year, but one that is very rewarding and set me off to a deep appreciation of working in black and white. I started this project as a way to reintroduce myself to monochromatic images and develop an appreciation for seeing in this manner. As an artist, I always worked in black and white and my medium of choice was pen or pencil, often producing lifelike images with them. I loved working in the colorless environment and how it held a sort of honesty, free of distraction that color can sometimes bring.

With the camera, I concentrated on bringing my images to life using color and finding my style within them. I looked to artists like Saul Leiter, Fred Herzog and Ernst Haas for my inspirations and how they used color. They remain my goto artists for inspiration still. I also loved the quirky color schemes found in the films of Argento and Lynch among so many others. When I picked up the camera I wanted to paint my world in a similar fashion with impactful and meaningful color. Along the way, I feel like I gradually hit that mark.

A year ago, I felt that I was missing so much more in the way only monochrome can bring, narrowing the image down to a core honesty. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do another 365 so close to the last one I had just completed but felt like it was time to give it a try and I was also needing something new and final to usher in my 50th birthday. yeah…50. Imagine that. So, with relief of finishing the project, I now can look back with deep pleasure and the feeling of accomplishment having finished what I started, feeling secure knowing that my commitment hasn’t wavered.

Ultimately, I love this project and how it kept me focused on the work and seeing in a new way, creating this massive story of interesting images over the course of the year. And of course, shooting like this produces so many more images that dont make it into the final daily effort….which is great, giving me even more images to work with over time. Not all are perfect, but they fit into the context of it and I find it interesting how my eye and mind would fixate on certain themes throughout. This really helps me to narrow down what I see and what keeps me inspired.

If you have never done a 365, I encourage you to try it…or maybe a weekly one making up for 52 images. It will help you focus and can give you more depth to your work as well as help with defining what you are looking at. Color or black and white, whatever you choose…both, either and any skill level will benefit from it. If you are a beginner, this is a great way to jump-start your photo-adventure!. It will be a challenge and a commitment, but in the end you will have a body of work that will certainly impress you and you will be able to see results from. I will also add that a 365 doesnt have to be only photography…it could be writing or cooking or just about anything you want to improve upon.

For now, looking back is a great feeling and one that I am content with. I want to make something of this project so perhaps an exhibit is in order. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them! And of course, I love to answer any questiosn that you might have so feel free to comment below and I will respond in kind. It would also please me a great deal if you can share the project with your friends or anyone you might benefit form the work.

Here is a small selection of ones that stood our for me or that resonated with me today (I would be very hard pressed ot have a favorite single image). You can find the entire body of work here: 365 Monochrome Project (I am still adding captions, etc).

I would like to thank my partners at Digital24.pl for the wonderful support and use of Canon, Fuji, Olympus and Sigma gear.

Equipment used:

Canon EOS 6DII and “L” Series 50mm 1.2f, Sigma 20mm 1.4f, Fujifilm X100f, Olympus OMD and Nikon D80 + 35mm 1.8f. and on occasion my Samsung Galaxy S8.

Thank you for watching. I hope that you enjoy it. Have a great day and hapy shooting!