I Started An Instax 365 Project And I've Got Some Feelings
Depression is a hell of a drug. One minute, everything seems fine, and then, in the next moment, life feels like it weighs heavy down on you. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, I started a new project to help kick me out of my creative slump. I hope that this will lead to me pulling myself out of this depressive state and subsequently trickle down into other aspects of my life. The idea is that taking more minor actions combined can create an environment where creativity can thrive. So, this project is baby step number one.
It’s not the most unique idea in the world. Plenty of others have done some form of a, “do something every day for a year” project. I can’t say in absolute terms if anyone has tried a, “document what’s important to you that day every day for a year by way of Instax film” project before. It’s not about creating a radical new idea that will revolutionize the universe. I wanted something simple yet meaningful that I could do every day to bring a little joy into my life.
It has been a few days since I started, and I already had my share of frustrations. I haven’t used my Instax in what seems like forever and I had to become reacquainted with it. The very first photo took me four tries to get right. The next few days were a series of, "How could I forget that that is how this works?”. This led to a few mistake photos being taken. I don’t wanna sound too down on this, though. Overall, I’d say this project has been a success.
Failed Attempts
Every day so far, I thought about what my next photo will be. Doing this had an unintended consequence. Not only was I thinking about the next creative idea, but it also made me reflect on what was important to me that day. I find it fascinating that a small gratitude practice slipped its way into this project. Another unexpected thing I noticed was how it’s forced me to come to terms with letting go of expectations. Instax is imperfect. I don’t have manual control over a lot of the settings or options I would have on my usual cameras. There are only so many ways I can alter the result.
At first, the unexpected aspect of shooting Instax was frustrating, but I learned to accept that for what it was. This has forced me to work within the limitations of the Instax technology. Macro shots are a no-go. If I’m shooting in low light conditions then I better be still otherwise it’s Blursville. Framing is slightly off when looking through the viewfinder. And please, for the love of everything, don’t forget to turn off the flash since it defaults to auto on startup.
Despite all of the quirks, I had such an amazing time coming up with ideas for this project. I have plenty of ideas, but I’ve always had ideas. What I’ve lacked recently was execution. Consistently shooting daily has already proven itself to me. Who knows? Maybe this truly will spark something else inside me that kicks me out of the negative state I’ve been in. Even if the only thing I gained from this was the experiences along the way, that would still be a success for me. If you’d like to follow along my journey, I post a new photo every day on my Instagram.
