Ritual: Printing One Photo A Day
A few years ago I came to the conclusion that a printed photograph is worth hundreds, if not thousands of digital photos stored on your phone or hard drive.
I started digital photography in 2002 with a Nikon Coolpix 2500, followed by a Nikon D70 DSLR in 2004, and then an iPhone 3GS in 2009. My output has ballooned to thousands of photos per year, scattered across my phone, various hard drives, Instagram, and Flickr. My current iPhone alone holds about 13,000 images.
As taking photos became easier, my love for photography didn't increase at the same rate. Many images are merely ephemera I save for reference, and I rarely curate them properly. I love both taking and viewing photos, but when you have tens of thousands stored away, finding a specific one becomes like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Paraphrasing a well known philosophical riddle, if a photo is stored digitally and no one ever looks at it, does it even exist?
To counter this I started to print photos again, one a day to be precise, and collect them in albums that I keep in a bookshelf. This became a mindful daily ritual I've been practicing so far for 487 days in a row. Picking each photo is a conscious act that makes me slow down and reflect on what happened that day. Browsing through a year of photos by flipping the album pages brings me joy. The human interface is physical and this practice is not a denial of digital photography – I love it! – but giving it a physical presence in my everyday life.
The Ritual
The daily ritual is very simple. Before I go to bed I select one photo to represent the day that has just passed. It doesn't have to be the absolute highlight or the best photo of the day, as that would put too much pressure on capturing every possible moment just in case. No, I'd rather enjoy being present with others or fully engaged in whatever I'm doing. Sometimes, when I remember to do so or the moment is right, I take that one special photo.
I then add the photo of that day, of that particular year, to a dedicated album on my iPhone. If I've taken the photo using another camera, I'll transfer it to the smartphone to keep an orderly record.
Printing & Storing The Photos
I print each photo with a Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2 Printer, using the same film as regular Instax cameras. With pencil, I note the date, number (X/365) and a brief caption. The business card-sized prints (54 × 86 mm) fit perfectly in Muji albums that hold 200 photos each, so I need two for a complete year.
When I'm travelling I either keep the photos in the appropriate album on my phone and print them in batch when I get back home or, if I'm carrying the tiny printer with me I'll print and store them in a small business card holder until I'm able to put them into the year's album.
PS: I Still Love Analogue Photography
I still enjoy film photography. Sometimes it takes months to finish a single roll, while other times I travel exclusively with film cameras. My fridge holds boxes of film rolls and Instax Mini cartridges from Japan. My analogue trifecta includes a Nikon F3HP (35mm), a Hasselblad 503CX (medium format), and a Fujifilm Instax Mini 50 that uses the same cartridges as the SP-2 printer.
