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580

By Nick Today

DAYS

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580

By Nick Today

DAYS

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Copyright 2010 by Nick Counts

Cover design by Nick Counts

Book design by Nick Counts

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or

other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the

author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain

other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write

to the author: makeroflms@gmail.com.

Ebook Edition: 2010

Please dont steal my pictures no matter how compelling the pictuers of me are.

To my family, to everyone on Flickr whos been with meduring this journey, and to my mom and Maria for

supporting me the most.

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Who

amI?

(The Hell)

And whats this all about?

Before you plunge headlong into this book, you

should probably know a few things. First of all,

what this is all about.

In my ambling along in the internet world, I

found myself getting hooked on a photo sharing

website which in turn led me to a project that

many of the most inspiring photographs were

a part of: 365 Days. The challenge was simple:

take a picture of yourself every day for a year.

It sounded simple enough. Well, in short, it

wasnt. Or, I correct myself, it could have been

simple, but simple is boring. I decided if I were

going to do this project, I would try to make

every single day different and interesting. At the

time, it wasnt clear just how much of a com-

mitment this project would requre.

Eventually, I did nish, howe

pictures ended up spanning t

580 days from the rst pictur

You can decide for yoursel

progress I made over that time

As for me, who am I, anyway?

average coffee addicted col

with a little too much time on h

adventures with photography h

me with a terrible camera add

while, I enjoy travelling and w

rest of my spare time. Im Nick

go by Nick Today. This is my

coming-of-age story. Thanks

along for the ride.

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Feeling funky with a headache, I decide to see if I can do this 365days thing. This one was taken in a mirror lit only by a nightlight.

Day 1: (Untitled)

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How to design this book and accomplish t-

ting my story into a manageable and accessible volume was a problem

that prevented me from starting it for a long time. Should I include

all the pictures or just selections? How should they be arranged?

I studied many dierent photography books and magazines and here

is what I concluded: it is better to include just selections. While I

underwent signicant changes over the course of the 580 days, the

changes are not apparent from picture to picture, especially in the

very beginning when many of my pictures were really boring and

uninspired as you can see from the previous pages.

Therefore, this book will contain selections from the 365 photos I

took. The selections are based not just on quality of the photo, but

also on signicance, text, or just personal preference.

As a note, the original text from when the pictures were posted will

be included when it provides insight or explanation to the photo it

accompanies.

Hope youll enjoy the journey as much as I have.

-NT Day19:Lights, Action!

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Day 40: New Lens

Day 33: Crazy Hair

Day 72: Coee Contemplation

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Day

65:

How Fortunate

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Day 79:Dont Bother Me, Im Reading!

Day 90:My Two Best Friends

Coffee and bitterness.

Good book. Makes me think about a lot of stuff and want

to try a lot of other stuff. Curious? Read it, its like 100

pages!

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Day 94: We Are Dust

and unto dust we shall return.

Day 96: Sunset (in My Mind)

I could not, not buy this hoodie.

I hate doing my own shopping for food and clothes and

stuff. It sucks cause then i buy stuff i dont need.

As for these clouds... i did not edit them. I thought theylooked pretty cool.

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Day 120: Waiting (for the boat)

Day 104: Fiery Burning

Day 114: Macbookin Around

Day 125: Me Two

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Three lazy, useless MEs.

Ive seen this technique around and decided to give it

a shot... This is my terrible done while falling asleep

attempt.

Um... Yeah

Ill try it again later sometime.

Yeah Im still falling asleep.

Three cheers for no Friday classes.

Day 117: Just What the World Needs

Well I guess today is a good day to rant about people

In my opinion, people today are moving toward the trend of blinding themselv

So many people refuse to see more than 5 feet and ve minutes ahead.

The most common two answers graduating college seniors give to the question

they want for life after graduation are money and fame.

They can name every one of Angelina Jolies ex-boyfriends and know just how

times Paris Hilton has been in jail, yet they cant even name have of the count

world.

Parents leave their kids alone at home to be brought up by television instead oand father. Then when the kid grows up to be psychotic, they blame TV instead

selves.

People Kill each other over the outcome of a soccer game.

I could go on forever.

If an objective viewer watched our world as a whole from afar, what would the

Personally, I think people need to open their eyes. I guess the best I can do is o

and hope people see my example and follow suit.

Day 122: A Global Vision

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Day

126:A Win-Win SituationSo I decided to try that

cloning thing again.

Hah and because some-

one wanted to see me

playing cards...

Im so good at poker...

hahaha.

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ay 134:ade ofStars

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ay 139:vitation

y 143:DrinkDeep

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Day

146:

Split Screen

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Wow this was such a bad editing job but its been taking

so long and its almost time for class.

Ive always thought it would be cool to have a camera

lens for an eye. In the spirit of Holgas and lomography,

what better lens than a Holga lens? Take it everywhere

and photograph everything.

Yay.

Day 152: Through the Plastic Lens

I am enjoying my hat before it departs from me tomorrow.

Tomorrow it will begin its journey (hopefully) around the

world!

This pictures will be the rst image in the group about its

adventures that I will soon be making!

I am excited about this project!

In other news, Flickr is taking up way too much of my life :)

Day 153: Endings & Beginnings

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ay 157:nictingterests

y 160:fe In Aubble

Day 16

CountiStars

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Day

161:My Current LifestyleUm so this is pretty much

my life right now.

The hanging clothes mess

is not mine, but a lot of

the rest of the mess is.

Oh and I applied to a

coffee shop today to get

some cash for lm/de-

veloping.... oh man this

could be fun.

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...that I am Spiderman.

Day 165: Sometimes I Like to Think

Who said dead languages cant rise from the grave?

This was my makeshift Flickr costume... Me not being big on

Halloween didnt dress up in real life.

Day 167: Zombie Latin

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Day 172:

Nick Today,Tatiana Tomorrow

So my good friend Tatiana and I

decided to do a random spur of the

moment 365 shared moment. It was

amazingly fun! The light bulb rep-

resents an idea and we are sharingit, get it?

The title was her idea! I love it! It

has a better ring to it than any of

my other titles.

Have a good night, I am very tired.

D

PeP

I guess

tion for

give m

brother

pumpk

Octobe

This ye

he wro

on it fo

And yeblurrin

lately.

So a sh

that I w

contest

its up

site an

be pub

upcom

Im pr

Also, I

studyin

dic on

Thursd

up for

a class

fun! It came with some CDs and I love the way the language sounds pronounced!

Finally, im trying to do a novel writing frenzy for the month of November. Caziness!

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Meat Loaf!

Day 175:Day Of Many Things

Thing 1: A small padded envelope arrived at my home today

and what could it be but a package from DHG! (It rhymed)

I cant wait to put these stickers on things!

Thing 2: I FINALLY got my second roll of Holga 120 prints

from Wal-mart. Their 2 day developing turned into 2 weeks

and 2 days!!! Also, the prints came back tiny! I wrote on theback 5x5 prints and got like 2 prints...

I cannot complain however because for printing and develop-

ing in total, I was charged $1.50. Not sure how that worked

out.

Thing 3: I am now one of the faces of downcity Providence

according to http://artpvd.org Some dude was taking por-

traits and I agreed to let him do a few. I am on the site twice!

Once on the homepage and then on page 2 of the portraits

gallery. I think its pretty cool.

Day 183:Whats Wrong With

My Meat Loaf?

Id like to think this is one of the most aske

questions of 2007.

In a hurry, prolly wont be around tomorro

much of Monday...

Saludos!

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Day 177:We Can Rebuild Him Day 186:Drawing Conclusions

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Day 188: Sawed In Half Day 189: Footprints

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Day

190:

The Moonlight Overthrew Me

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Day 197:irror Madness

I was wondering how close I could put the camera to a mir-

ror with it still focusing. Apparently, pretty close.

Ugh I was like in bed when i realized that I needed to edit

and upload this. Also, my frst time using dodge tool (or

burn I dont remember) on the eyes. I still dont really get

those tools.

Oh well this isnt exactly creative.

Day 198:Seconds Before Immolation

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Day 202:

GrowthSpurt

Finally there is a lull in nals. Ive got some time this

week to relax and then next week sucks again!

For this picture I was playing around with some lights

that ive had for a while but never used.

Also, for some reason, i really wanted to hold/pose with

the Zorki. This camera is so awesome looking (in my

opinion), but I dont have a lens cap so most of the time

I keep it in the case which resembles something out of

Indiana Jones.

This is my I dont care cause Im a male model expres-

sion. Haha, good thing im not actually a male model.

DM

D

K

Wow Da

got any

represe

mostly

exhaust

lame ex

Well I th

get this

has to

and how

hat hair

crazine

This wa

library

puter. I

done on

say and

the seco

both du

Nothing

bit of he

crastina

Also, I

about s

(ickr)

Well, ba

books!

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Day 206:Melt With Me

I dont know whats wrong with me.

Not drugs.

Denitely something though.

I need to stop doing my photos after midnight!

Day 208:Classic AsianPhilosophy

A way comes into being through our wa

upon it; a thing is so because people say th

is.

-Wandering on the Way

I say that I will get an A on my test tomor

Lets see what happens.

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Day 212:Chameleon Day 215:Strange Fruit (Merry Christmas!)

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Day216:If I WereIn A Dal

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...That I was drowning

under frozen water.

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Day 219:Youve Got The

Whole Thing Wrong

... the road is neither short nor long

The answers neither white nor black,

and it weighs heavy on your back

-Martin Grech - The Heritage

Day 222:I Want ToCatch My

Death of Cold

...Cause Im scared of growing old.

-Chris Garneau - Black & Blue

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Day 226:Light

Whispers

Day 222am Blue

It was one of those times where i wasnt

going to stay up and do this, but I end-

ed up staying up and doing it anyway.

On another note, I had a full cup of

coffee kicked out of my hand and all

over myself and the surrounding walls,

objects, etc. Luckily it wasnt too hot. It

was actually pretty funny.

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So I got these sweet noise canceling headphones that, when appliedto my eyes, makes me look like an Alien.... or the creepy bunny

from Donnie Darko.

Day 228:Extraterrestrial Eyes

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BLACK&

WhiteWeek

There was a point in the projectwhen I decided that the editingwas getting too much. To combatthis, I decided to try to do a Black& White Week.Basically, this meant only tak-ing black and white photos for aweek, but there was a little moreto it than that.

Black & White Week Rules:

1. All photos must be black andwhite.

2. Photos cant be edited beyondlevels and cont rast.

3. Camera must be in manualmode.

4. Pictures can be cropped.

Day 230:Hiding Behind The Music

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Day232:

RoidWall

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Day 234:Anatman

tract the eye from the intendedsubject, whereas in black andwhite this does not happen. I alsolove black and white for its con-trast. I love contrast and nothingis more contrasty than black andwhite, when you want it to be.Eliminate the shades of grey andvoila.Editing black and white is alsovery dierent than editing photosin color. It seems like it would bemuch simpler (and in some waysit is) but you also have to be moreprecise when dealing with tones.Anyways, that was wayyy toolong, but thats just my take.Shooting only black and white (as

opposed to shooting incolor and changing tob&w in editing) reallydoes train your eye tosee shapes and naturalcontrast in your sur-roundings and for that itis denitely worthwhile.I dont know what to-morrow will bring, butI know I will denitelybe shooting B&W muchmore than before. Itis almost tempting tonot shoot in color everagain! Almost.

After shooting a whole week

without color, I have realized afew great things that I love aboutblack and white. The rst is itsability to simplify things. I havealways been a fan of simplic-ty. One reason I really like this

aspect is because when shootingn public lots of times the random

colors of surroundings can dis-

Day 235:

White Out

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Day 236:Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

So funny story: if I had never skipped any days in 365Id be done today (Jan 17). That just goes to show howmuch of a slacker I am. To commemorate this colos -sal anticlimactic lack-of-event and because Ive gota whole lot of things I need to work on and sort outinvolving my school schedule, major, and life, I amtaking one week o the project. I know its wonder-ful, but sometimes so much so that it pushes real life

out of the picture and it has now (after an actual year)caught up to me. Sorry to be lame like this, but itsgotta be done.

And so, before I go, Id like to leave you all with apoem that came out of nowhere one evening, but has

grown on me in the few days Ive had it. Here it is:

When I was youngerAll I wanted was to be older.To do all the things that older people do:To live on my ownTo be a remanAnd to have no parents or teachers to tell me what to do.

But now that I am olderAnd can do all the things that older people do,I think about when I was youngerAnd wish I could go backTo when things were simpleAnd I didnt have to live on my ownTo when I had dreams of the futureAnd parents and teachers who encouraged me to fulll them.

When I was poorAll I wanted was to be rich.To have all the things that money can buy:To have a big house and ve carsTo have lots of friendsAnd to have a high paying job to keep the money coming.

But now that I am richAnd have all the things that money I think about when I was poorAnd wish I could go backTo when things were simpleAnd my small house didnt echoTo when I didnt wonder if my checkfriends than I.

And when I had the opportunity to genjoy.

When I was livingAll I wanted was to dieTo not worry about all the things thaabout:To give everyone a reason to think abTo show them that I have the nal sAnd to leave behind a legacy that soon.

But now that I am old and dyingAnd dont have to worry about the tworry aboutI think about when I was livingAnd wish I could go back

To do it all again and do it all diere

To care about people whod care abouTo realize that life is not a competitiAnd to have a family to carry on my

But now my only legacy

Is a life of bitter memoriesAnd this poem.Wont you carry it on?

-NT

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Day 238:The Overdone Foot Stretching Shot!

Day 243:Blank Paper

Blank paper

Blank mind

Frozen in time

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Day 240:It Always

Snows OnSundays

...Or so it would seem.

Day 241:Breakfast

In Color

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Day 248:A BriefGuide to

Living inNorway

So everyone at the study abroad ofce is trying

to convince me to study in Norway.

I might do one semester of that and one of

Spain.

Its cheaper is one reason.The second reason is a line from the rst page

of this booklet:

Norwegians consume more coffee per capita

than any other country on the planet.

Day 250:Beneath TheWheel

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Day 251:Imprisoned

Day 252:Hi or Lo

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Day 254:The DeathOf An Era

Day 256: The Return

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Day 257: The AttackFredrik munches my face as I feign

nonchalance.

Day 261:Snow Falling On RI

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Day 265:LeapDay!

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Day 266

Need AHand?

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Day 269:Roots

Day 271Jumper

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Day 272:The Mighty Pen

Day 273:My Exciting Application Picture

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Day 276:My Lomo LC-A Is Dead

Day 277:To Drink

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Day 278:Pretending to Be Places

Weve Already Been

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Day 279: I Like Cofee

Day 281: A Kiss

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4

ay8:

OhEmGee!

Symmetry.

Day283:

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ay86:

TotalHair

Cooperation

Day288:

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ay90:

StrungOut

Today, I had an entire pot of coffee in one siand then about an hour later it all wore off a

started feeling pretty crazy...

Like I was cold and sweating and my heart w

pounding, but I wasnt moving. I guess thats

sign that I needed more coffee.... or less?

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00

Day 291:The Complex Workings

Of A Simple Mind

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Day 297:- - - - - - - - - - -

I Smile as I Leapfrom High Places

Day 301:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Reaching Out

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Day 302:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Sometimes Simplicityis Sublime

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Day 310:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Bite The Bullet

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ay3:

FiFie

FoeFum

Sleepless

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Day314:WhoAmI

Today?

Doyoueverjustlookinthemirror

andforget?

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Day 317:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Cloud Chaser

Day 321:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Size Does Matter

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Day 322:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Going Green inBlack and White Day 323:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Building Blocks

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Day 326: Ruler of All I Survey

Day325:StepIn

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Day

330:

SometimesIFeelLikeICan

DoAnything

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Day 331:Two Oh

So. Im 20 now. Weird. Happy birth-

day to me?

I was never one for new years reso-lutions, but i think i will be making

some 20 year birthday resolutions.

Maybe.

Resolution Number One: Quit all the

teenager groups on ickr :P

Day 332:Be Jealous

... Of my new girlfriend: Diana :)

I just got her in the mail today and

i cant wait to take pictures withher. haha. Plus, she came with the

book that my story got published in!

Sweetness!

I started at the coffee shop today. It

was amazing. Annnnd I didnt even

drink any coffee. I will though. Next

time.

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Day 334:The Hush

Sound

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Day335: Undened

Pronoun

Day337: Plant Your Fear

Till Your Dream

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Day 339:

ReachingSometimes I wish there was an easier

way to get from place to place. Know

what I mean?

- - - - - - - - - - - -|

||||

- - - - - - - - - - - -

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Day 340: Just for the Record

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Day342:The Fortune That

Made My Day

Day344:

DaddyLonglegs

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Da

y343:

Whe

nTheCofeeDoe

sntWork

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Sometimes I FeelLike I Need A Vacation

Day346:

Day 347:PrimeNumbersMake MeNervous

This week Ive been carrying this

huge camera around 6 hours a day. Itnever leaves my side until after 3. My

right shoulder is going to be 3 times

bigger than my left by the end of the

week.

Oh and I have no idea why Im pop-

ping out the window. It seemed like a

good idea at the time.

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Day

350:TheClockt

ower

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Day351:

When The MoonCasts Shadows

Day352:

Blank Faced

and Scarved

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Day 354:

My Electric Eye

Day 357:

If I Went THogwar

... this would be my alarm clock. And cle

even this doesnt w

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Day 358:

TravelingMinstral

Day 359:

OutsidLooking I

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Day

362:Peeling

,Crumbling,

Falling

Apart

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Day365:

THE END

So I come to my finalday in the 365 dayproject.

Many people are curious what itfeels like to nish a project suchas this, so I have enclosed some ofmy thoughts, my observations, andmy experiences over the course ofthis extended 365 days which actu-ally ended up being that and a halfagain.

Photography:When I began 365 days I was nota photographer. I took pictures,sure, but not photographs. I feelmuch stronger about my abilityto visualize in angles and moodsbefore taking each shot that I didnot have the ability to do before.Just look back. There was muchexperimentation back then. Therestill is, but now it is more honed,more purposeful, less juvenile. I feelcondent now, holding a big digitalSLR that is quickly becoming datedbut will always be my favorite, andstanding in front of people, takingphotos, being a photographer. Pho-tography in the past year and a halfas become such a part of me that I

still see everything in life in termsof how I can photograph it, even ifI dont have a camera with me. Youwant to get better at photography,practice it! You want an excuse topractice it every day? Do 365.

People:The people Ive met while doing 3are of all kinds but all share a coupcommon aspects. They are talenteinspiring, and yet humble. They arkind, sharing, open. They will giveyou opinions on photos, they willsometimes collaborate with you(those turned out to be my favoritphotos of all) and they always manto make you feel good even if yourdown. They are the encouragementhat I could not have done this proect without. They are ever supporive. They are amazing really. Manyyou became closer than the friendhave in the real world. Then theJenn who was kind enough to buy this Flickr pro account, which Imhoping hasnt proved to be a totalwaste of her time and money. Thanyou Jenn, I am eternally grateful. Athank you everyone who has beenalong for this long and bumpy ride

My rst day of classes in Norway itomorrow. Theres a whole new wooutside my window just waiting to

be discovered. Tomorrow, I plan tobegin discovering it.

-Nick Today (and tomorrow too)

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ABOUTTHE

AUTHOR

Nick Today is my internet identity, but who am I?

I am a man of simple tastes. I like coee, cameras, and goodpens. I like to travel, and I would love to t all my stu intoa backpack and have total freedom. I am an analog freakand I like to bike (and rhyme!)

My dream is to open a sweet coee shop and to travel theworld, taking pictures and writing about my travels.

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2

A very special thanks to Alysia, Amalie, and Tatianafor our collaborative shots, which turned out to be

some the very best photos here.

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