The Beauty of the 365 Project
It's more than just a pretty picture
I heard about 365project.org from a photographer friend years ago before I had a digital camera for easy online sharing. One of the first things I did, once I figured out how to use the simple digital I now have, is to check out this website and join. The idea is to take a photo every day and post it. But I soon found out that the most enriching part of the 365 project experience was not the beautiful pictures but the fascinating view of other people and their worlds that one sees on the website. And the view one gets of the world as a whole. Though the Southern Hemisphere is underrepresented, it doesn't take much searching to find pictures of Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
People are posting views of their lives in the US, the UK, (by far the largest number of images come from people in these two countries), Mexico, Scandinavia, Western Europe and there are a few people in other parts of the world. I knew when the UK was having record snows because people were taking pictures of it. During the revolution in Egypt a few people managed to post pictures and reassure others of their safety.
But mostly the photos are not of major events but of everyday life all over the world. The crazy snow-buried world of Norway in winter. A balloon seller in a Mexico City park. The flight of a fruit bat in a Sydney, Australia. A young woman pretending to take flight with seagulls in Chicago. A fox crossing a winter corn field in Nebraska. A holy man twisting his dreadlocks in Nepal.
We see that people everywhere love flowers and birds and the spectacles of nature. We see the way people and their children spend time. We see what fascinates other people that we may have given little attention to before. We are treated to the quirky visual sense of humor of people all over the world. It's a lovely tour of humanity.
It's an international bonding experience through images. Even if you don't have a camera, check it out. Sign up and follow people from other countries, or other states. If you live in a rural area, follow someone in a big city--and vice versa. It's a beautiful way to connect with the world.