29 Feb The beginning…
Today is unusual. The next anniversary of today will be in 2016. Any babies born today will have the weird experience of not having a real ‘first’ birthday until they are four years old… by the time they are ‘two’ they’ll know there is something a bit special (or lame) about their birth date!
Some people will wake up today right in the middle of something… It’s the middle of the week for all of us, but others will be in the middle of decorations, renovations, negotiations…
My wife is several hundred miles away this morning at a family funeral, painfully aware of the end of a story that started more than 70 years ago but one that had a significant impact on her own.
Instagram is a great app for capturing elements of these stories. In the developers own words, the original idea was a Swiss Army Knife of an app that tried to do lots of things. As time went on it got simplified and ended up as the photo sharing app that we know, love and obsess about! It a way it celebrates the every day mundanity of life but at the same time allows us to share the everyday beauty that is so often taken for granted.
Last year, on the first BMEday, (#BMEday on Instagram for images) there were all sorts of stories shared. BMEs of cooking preparations, a DIY electrical job, an evening get-to-gether, as well as disjointed snap shots of various story threads from throughout the day. Plus we had high-concept ideas of colours and objects relating to Beginning, Middle and End.
BMEday2 is about all and none of these stories. How you choose to interpret the challenge is entirely up to you. I don’t expect a series of conclusions by midnight tonight (and of course that’s midnight wherever you are…). Stories begin and end on a moment to moment basis. A phone begins and ends within a few moments and is it’s own story, but consequently a whole new opportunity may have arisen and another story begins.
If you take part in BMEday2 today then don’t restrict yourself in any way. Your three images may be the beginning, middle and end of three completely separate stories… you may even be capturing stories you observe, the stories of others… it’s really up to you to challenge the brief as much or as little as you like.
Best case scenario (if you’ll pardon the pun) is that on the anniversary of BMEday2, four years from now, this collection of three images will equally as significant to you as thy were today. A memory of the day, of what you were doing and thinking. Maybe it’ll remind you to review a whole other bunch of images that we’ll never get to see, the memories that are kept private. (It’s great to share, but some things are for you and those closest to you.)
Enjoy Leap Year day 2012 and I hope you’re able to capture it in someway with BMEday2!
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