I’m doing a little end-of-the-year Flickring.
One of my goals next year is to spend more time cruising around Flickr. It’s a remarkable concept and a remarkable site; I could easily spend hours there any day of the week. After completing my 30holidays (well, 29holidays… you don’t realize how difficult it can be to take a themed photo a day until you actually try it) project, I’ve really come to respect the quality and diversity of the photos on the site.
My primary interest (as any participant to BarCamp Manchester can attest) is the integration of time and location into a photograph. I found two examples just tonight of how this can really bring out some interesting relationships.
Flickr user Lolisa attended the Penobscot Narrows Bridgewalk. She took some pictures that day. I took some pictures that day. Apparently we both really liked the cables (hers, mine).
I took my first 30holidays photo on November 26 at 10:47 AM. The subject was a lamppost on Central Street in Bangor. Molbl0g, a user who appears to be from somwhere around Boston, took a picture directly across the street… on November 26… at 11:31 AM. The lamppost I shot is probably right out of view. (She also visited Bagel Central, where I’ll be tomorrow morning.)
Can you believe it? 10 days left until Christmas! That means that the 30holidays project is 2/3 complete. See the latest over at the 30holidays Flickr group, see a map of photos, or check out the 30holidays calendar at justinrussell.com/projects/30holidays/.
I have to complement Revver on the redesign of their site. It’s wonderful – it’s simple, and it includes just about everything you’d want to do in an easy layout while leaving out all the extraneous stuff. Quite simply, I’m inspired.
To see a sample video page, check out today’s Ze.
Through the last few years, I’ve known that I have three main focuses in life: writing, photography, and Web development. The challenge for me has been finding the proper balance between them.
Before you suggest that I start an online newspaper at which I do photojournalism, realize that there are certain conditions to my interests. I wouldn’t be interested in photojournalism in its purest sense, for instance, because though I like the research, writing, and photography aspects of it, I really wouldn’t want to have to interview people when they have just gone through a crisis or other momentous event. Because of this I’ve decided to offer a quick summary of what I enjoy about each of the three areas. (In all honesty I’m doing this as much for my own good as I am for the interest and/or keeping-in-the-loop of whoever may read this.)
I love to write. This blog has been an amazing outlet for my writing, but once again the pendulum of indecisiveness swings. I’ve decided to create a new blog focused on technology and the future (one of my top interests); once I pin down a name, I’ll be sure to supply a few links.
This year has also been great for my photographic interests. I’ve taken more kinds of photos (sports, performance, portrait, nature) than any year in the past. I had the wonderful opportunity to head to a few of my favorite Marsh Island spots with my friend Jenn on Saturday, and I took a couple hundred photos of her. I’d love to do that again, both with her and with others; it’s such a great experience to see how people appear in the photos that you’ve taken. It’s gotten to a point where I’m frustrated attending any concert or performance at which I can’t shoot. I’ve come to find experiences richer when I partially experience them through a viewfinder.
And then there’s Web development. I’ve often tried to explain to people why my main interest lies on the Web, and how my interest in it spans far beyond lines of code and a few pretty graphics. Since the beginning of college, I’ve wanted to connect people in new ways. I’ve also wanted to solve some of the world’s problems by making different sorts of information easier to access (sound familiar?). I enjoy that. I enjoy receiving e-mails from people asking me to revive gre.gario.us. I’m not afraid to admit that I love it when I see multi-lingual reviews. More importantly, though, I want to help people. I want to make a difference. I don’t care if I become rich, famous, or “popular.” I’d rather be known as a guy who helped solve a problem. And yes, I’m one of the crazy ones who still knows it’s possible.
Jessie calls this a quarter-life crisis. Maybe it is. I dunno. I just want to get started.
