
The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic with both a move and a new semester to deal with. But this morning I finished putting the final touches on my syllabi and there's only a couple more boxes that need to make their way down to the new garage so I'm in good shape, for the moment at least.
One of the things that kept me sane these past weeks is that I got to work on what I'm calling my really, REALLY long term photo project. It occurs once every year, on or around the time of my son's birthday. The project was started when I was thirty and the goal is to make one photograph of him a year, in a similar aesthetic, till he's thirty and I'm sixty (Lord willing...)
If this sounds impossible well perhaps it is (it's hard enough getting a two year old to sit still much less, I suspect, an adolescent who's willing to have his picture taken). But I think like many things that take a long time to develop (a classic vehicle rebuild, a special book collection, or a long term relationship) it will be the sum of the experiences rather than the finished project that ends up being very special.
One of my favorite long term photo projects is a portrait project by photographer Nicholas Nixon titled, The Brown Sisters, that he's been doing since 1975. You can find out more about that project here