Once More Around The Sun
We have done it again! Another trip around the solar system on this wondrous planet of ours. And it was a year – speaking for myself, or course – full of momentary wonders, large and small, cheerful and sad, sunlit and shadowed, and basically filled with every kind of contrasting possibility, which is what life seems to offer us every single day.
I spent the morning here reviewing every photograph in the blog and was surprised at both the range and diversity of the images, and I could also see how many themes and sub themes there were, and how regularly they came into play. The truth is I have my limits, and even though I am trying to reach beyond what I know how to see, I still can’t get away from myself completely, not that I thought I could, or would even want to be completely other, but this year-long experiment was meant to shake the joints of this old mindset loose through the ordinary practice of daily seeing and responding.
To that end I feel gratified that even though I was stretching things thin a bit by working that way there are still enough high points along the line that I can go back in now and see what stands out for me. If I were to find say, 50 to 75 images out of 365, that held together, or pointed me in a new way, that would be worth the effort. Although the effort itself was what was truly worth the effort.
And then there is the patience and support that all of you so generously offered me. Your feedback, and your willingness to climb aboard and play this out with me is an unforgettable part of this year’s journey. It was somewhat like having a virtual crew on board our spaceship as we journeyed around the sun together. Your company made it special.
My hope is that by sharing this adventure in seeing with you, and trying to write about it, that something of the special nature of photographic language will have been opened up for all to use as each of you can. Not that I have anything so special to add to the discourse, but because I believe that images offer up speculation after the fact, and that speculative stimulus sends us deeper into the mysteries of the medium, and once we are inside we can begin to find our own way forward. I like that; the invitation into the mystery. Because isn’t that what life is?
This is the last post of 2015. I will not be making daily posts from this point on, there is just too much I want to do, and the time seems to be getting shorter in these later years, and so I want to make the most of what I have, especially now that I have some freedom thanks to the sale of my archive. But I will continue to post my thoughts and/or questions whenever something comes up that seems worthy of sharing with you, or mulling over in public. So, stay tuned.
I will miss the dialogue that I have had with some of you, but the blog remains ‘live,’ and it’s there for whoever wants to make something out of it, or reconsider some of the issues touched upon in the course of our journey. use it as you wish.
I salute you all and wish you the spaciousness of another year.
Joel
ONCE MORE AROUND THE SUN 
Thank you Joel for your daily OMATS posts, I enjoyed them all. I hope you enjoy ‘YOUR’ time doing ‘YOUR’ things and I look forward to when you have time to post more.
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Well, what can I say? I joined in the very first day because I thought this was an amazing and generous gift you were offering, an open door to your sensibility. In photographic terms, you made us think beyond the obvious, but the biggest lesson here is not about photography but about life, about loving life and accepting it as it is. And what a lesson. You had a revelation seeing Robert Frank at work, and years later that happened to me when I saw Joel Meyerowitz on the streets. Thank you very much for your time and I hope we stay in touch.
All the best, and greetings from Spain.
Jose.
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Jose,
Your voice has been a live and positive part of this year’s experience for me. I am grateful for your intelligent commentary and your intuitive grasp of where my work was going. We will stay in touch.
Where are you in Spain? I may be coming to Valencia or other parts of Spain to visit a curator who is working with me on a project.
My best for the new year.
Joel
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Thank you! Th, so that you can reach me anytime. I live in Valladolid but I can travel to say hello or help you in any way.
All the best,
Jose
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Thank you! This is my address, so that you can reach me anytime: p.sprout@hotmail.com.
I live in Valladolid but I can travel to say hello or help you in any way.
All the best,
Jose
p.d: sorry for making it double, I sent an unfinished message by mistake.
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Thank you Joel for this year of daily photos. Wish you a wonderful 2016 full of everything you most desire.
Hope to hear from you sooner than soon.
Gianluca
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Gianluca,
Thank you for your support. I appreciate the thought and your good wishes. All the best to you in the new year. Joel
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Thank you Joel for the special gift you have offered to us every single day of the past year.
I wish you and your Maggie a Serene New Year.
Giorgio
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Thank you Joel, though thank you sounds a poor response to the delight you have given us every day this last year. I’m really going to miss your daily simple clear view of the world. I guess I could best repay your efforts by pursuing the path I had tentatively been starting out on a year ago, and that you have shown to be so well worth pursuing. The very best wishes for the future.
Stefan
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Dear Stefan, You are right! The best way to thank me is to follow your own best instincts and leap into the fresh start that the calendar offers us, the clean slate moment which – although we could consider any day to be the start of something – the first day of the new year has the biggest wind behind it. So let it blow you where it will. Let me kn ow how it goes. All my best for the new year. Joel
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Thank you Joel for your gifts offered to us on a daily basis.
I also want to thank 2015 for having given to me the opportunity to follow you in Milan at Leica’s workshop last May.
What a great human experience and honour being able to speak to you.
I wish you and your Maggie a Serene New Year.
Giorgio
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Giorgio. It has been a pleasure to know that serious observers were watching the blog and taking whatever was useful from it. I send best wishes for the new year and for the work of yours that will come from it. Joel
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Dear Joel, I have been thinking of ways to say thank you for this two-year long exercise in visual expression but all I can say is I miss it already. 😦 So many thanks for this journey!
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I’m sorry to read that you’ll no longer be posting every day, but you’re right: We only get so many days. I do hope you’ll accept my ENORMOUS thank you, though, for sharing yourself so honestly and generously. Your images and insights have been a wonderful reminder of the small miracles that await in those everyday moments, if only we pause to see them. I’ve enjoyed accompanying you on this journey, and can’t wait to see where your road takes you next. My very best wishes for a happy and fulfilling New Year.
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Dear Joel,
Thank you for this generous and unique gift of your wisdom and daily inspiration, exploration, discovery. One year later, I tune in deeper, with a new (third) eye, with patience and courage, rediscover the possibilities of the medium anew every day. It’s all thanks to your open heart and generous sharing of your cognitive process, and constant encouragement.
I wish you all the best with the rest of your journey. Thank you for taking us along for this part of the ride. I will revisit and continue my learning, and look forward to your new posts.
Warmest regards,
Ece
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Thanks for sharing your year with us, a great opportunity for us all.
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Joel, my gratitude is deep for the gift you’ve given here: your insights, your questions, and of course, your images. This blog has been one of my daily inspirations. Thank you! Happy New Year to you and Maggie.
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Thanks Joel, I’m going to miss your daily updates in my inbox each morning, Australian time. They were the first thing I read every day of last year. All the best.
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Thank you so much for sharing your view of the journey! I have enjoyed every moment of it from my side. You offered much inspiration for life, not just photographically, and insights and questions to keep me questioning along my own journey. All the best to you! ~ Kim
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Thank you so much for sharing all of this, that meant a lot to me!
Lambert
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