Amy Sly in Brooklyn, New York is spending a year taking cell phone photos and she's calling it for you, not them...
Why did you decide to do this project? Taking photos used to be a big part of my life—I studied photography in school, shot for a newspaper, photographed events, and was rarely without a camera. When I moved to New York to work as a book designer, photography became relegated to special events or occasional bursts of creativity and I missed it being a part of my daily life. My best friend urged me to start for you, not them with the photos I was taking on my cell phone as a way for me to shoot daily again, share my photos, and keep us connected (she moved to San Francisco in '09).
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Each day I'm tasked with finding something new, different, beautiful, or interesting in the world around me and that pursuit has made me more present and engaged with my surroundings. It's also helped to break me out of my routine and to seek out new sights and places. If I've been sitting at my desk through lunch with sunlight waning—I go outside and take a walk around midtown. If I'm headed home and haven't seen anything that caught my eye that day—I'll take the long route home through the park or take a bike ride to somewhere I've never been before. It's subtle, but also huge.
See all of Amy's photos on her site HERE.
Why did you decide to do this project? Taking photos used to be a big part of my life—I studied photography in school, shot for a newspaper, photographed events, and was rarely without a camera. When I moved to New York to work as a book designer, photography became relegated to special events or occasional bursts of creativity and I missed it being a part of my daily life. My best friend urged me to start for you, not them with the photos I was taking on my cell phone as a way for me to shoot daily again, share my photos, and keep us connected (she moved to San Francisco in '09).
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Each day I'm tasked with finding something new, different, beautiful, or interesting in the world around me and that pursuit has made me more present and engaged with my surroundings. It's also helped to break me out of my routine and to seek out new sights and places. If I've been sitting at my desk through lunch with sunlight waning—I go outside and take a walk around midtown. If I'm headed home and haven't seen anything that caught my eye that day—I'll take the long route home through the park or take a bike ride to somewhere I've never been before. It's subtle, but also huge.
See all of Amy's photos on her site HERE.
