2019
As a way to capture the many moments in a year, both profound and seemingly trivial, I created a graphic visual slideshow that summarized each month of my life in 2019. Originally posted on Instagram, I developed a seamless composition that incorporated my photographs, my words, and other visuals to create a personal diary.
2018
Exercising has many obvious benefits: feeling healthier, building muscle, stress relief, etc. It has also led to an unexpected benefit for me: seeing the morning sky change over time.
When I was heading home from the gym morning after morning – walking to the trolley and looking east on Market Street – I noticed the broad sunrise coming up over Philadelphia’s skyline.
What caught my attention when I first started snapping pictures in January 2018 was the dark, complex, interesting gradient of the pre-dawn sky. As seasons changed, brighter pinks and blues started to appear. I thought it would be interesting to collage the sunrises together and enjoy the beautiful, bizarre, ugly, and interesting colors and composition.
Sunrise #1: 1/3/18, 1/8/18, 1/9/18, 1/10/18, 1/29/18, 1/31/18, 2/5/18, 2/9/18, 2/12/18, 2/13/18, 2/14/18, 2/19/18
Sunrise #2: 2/20/18, 2/21/18, 2/26/18, 2/27/18, 2/28/18, 3/6/18, 3/9/18, 3/13/18, 3/14/18, 3/16/18, 3/19/18, 3/20/18
Sunrise #3: 3/23/18; 3/27/18; 3/28/18; 3/29/18; 3/30/18; 4/4/18; 4/5/18; 4/9/18; 4/10/18; 4/11/18; 4/23/18; 4/24/18
Sunrise #4: 4/25/18; 4/26/18; 4/27/18; 4/30/18; 5/10/18; 5/11/18; 5/14/18; 5/15/18; 5/22/18
Sunrise #5: 5/23/18; 5/24/18; 5/25/18; 5/29/18; 5/30/18; 5/31/18; 6/1/18; 6/4/18; 6/5/18; 6/6/18; 6/7/18; 6/8/18
Sunrise #6: 6/11/18; 6/12/18; 6/13/18; 6/14/18; 6/15/18; 6/18/18; 6/19/18; 6/20/18; 6/25/18; 6/26/18; 6/27/18; 6/28/18
Sunrise #7: 6/29/18; 7/2/18; 7/3/18; 7/6/18; 7/9/18; 7/10/18; 7/11/18; 7/12/18; 7/13/18; 7/16/18; 7/17/18; 7/18/18
Sunrise #8: 7/19/18; 7/20/18; 7/23/18; 7/24/18; 7/25/18; 7/26/18; 7/30/18; 8/1/18; 8/2/18; 8/3/18; 8/6/18; 8/17/18
Sunrise #9: 8/18/18; 8/9/18; 8/10/18; 8/14/18; 8/15/18; 8/16/18; 8/17/18; 8/27/18; 8/28/18; 8/29/18; 8/30/18; 8/31/18
Sunrise #10: 9/4/18; 9/5/18; 9/6/18; 9/7/18; 9/10/18; 9/11/18; 9/12/18; 9/13/18; 9/14/18; 9/17/18; 9/18/18; 9/19/18
Sunrise #11: 9/20/18; 9/21/18; 9/24/18; 9/25/18; 9/26/18; 9/28/18; 10/1/18; 10/2/18; 10/3/18; 10/5/18; 10/8/18; 10/9/18
Sunrise #12: 10/10/18; 10/12/18; 10/15/18; 10/16/18; 10/17/18; 10/22/18; 10/23/18; 10/26/18; 10/29/18l 10/30/18; 10/31/18; 11/1/18
Sunrise #13: 11/5/18; 11/6/18; 11/9/18; 11/26/18; 11/27/18; 11/28/18; 11/30/18; 12/3/18; 12/4/18; 12/5/18; 12/7/18; 12/10/18
Sunrise #14: 12/11/18; 12/12/18; 12/13/18; 12/14/18; 12/17/18; 12/18/18; 12/19/18; 12/20/18; 12/21/18; 1/7/19; 1/8/19; 1/9/19)
2017
For 2017, I challenged myself to create a "Visual Diary" - weekly snapshots, illustrations, designs, or whatever I feel like that captures my life from that week. Sometimes they are specific events or things, sometimes they are overall feelings or an outlet for a burst of random creativity or frustration.
The only "requirements" I put on myself was that each composition includes that week’s number (ie. 14/52) somewhere.
2016
Working towards a goal of reading a book that started with each letter of the alphabet, I wanted to try some new authors, topics, perspectives, and types of books in the process. I did not read the books in any order - just kind of started somewhere and found my way through the alphabet.
After I read all 26 books, I composed this poster combining each book’s cover + the related letter.
Some stray thoughts and personal observations:
Favorite Overall Read: Intimacy Idiot by Isaac Oliver
Favorite Book Cover: The Girls by Emma Cline (or) Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
First Book Read: Room by Emma Donoghue
Last Book Read: Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Books read on Audible.com: 2
Books read on Kindle: 4
Books borrowed from the library: 18
The book most outside of my comfort zone / from a genre I don't usually read: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (Science Fiction / Fantasy)
2015
As a habitual/obsessive list-maker and tracker of many things, I decided that 2015 was the year to put some of that data and information to good use. I also wanted an outlet to display some of the photography I accumulated over the 12 months.
The mini-publication is broken up into four sections: Travel, Books, Movies, and Restaurants. Each section has unique icons, while a common palette of type and color keeps the publication feeling uniform.
You can explore the full publication here.