I Am Not A Real Fish

Gail Griggs in Cheshire, UK is doing a project called I am not a real fish. She explains that her goal is, "to take a new photo every day which features the same small orange plastic toy goldfish. Why the fish? Because it’s the first thing I came across that was small enough to fit in my handbag, wouldn’t break and could be easily cleaned. And because I like orange too."...


Why did you decide to do this project? I needed to take more photos, more often and I guessed this would make me do so. After a short career break to have a baby, I felt I’d lost my photographer status and needed to get back into some sort of work routine, which is hard when you’re freelance. I also needed to get my creative juices flowing again and claw back some me-time every day. I’m so glad I started the project. I’ve got so much more than I anticipated out of it. It’s amazing how agreat comment from a complete stranger on one of my images can make me smile all day.




How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well, I’m now four months in with over 120 photos and it has made me realise I don’t have to have a few hours a day to create a fab photo. Often those that I took in two minutes are the ones that get noticed, while others I spent days planning and getting right just pass by uncommented. I do feel like a photographer again, and I feel others now see me as that again too. It’s hard for friends and family not to when I’m wandering round their house looking for somewhere interesting to photograph my fish!

I was also really shy of my work and scared about putting it out there for everyone to see. But, I’ve found sharing my work on the internet isn’t such a scary place after all – I’ve learnt to just stop thinking about things and get on with it. I’ve even made quite a few print sales of my images. You never know unless you try.



See all of Gail's fish photos on her Facebook page HERE

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