Silhouette
91 Days 2025, Issue 1
Here We Go Again
“Hey, didn’t you say that the last volume was the last one and that you were going to build a new website or something?”
Look, all I can tell you is that things change and the best of intentions get derailed by all manner of mice and men. So, instead, you get another Volume of 91 Days here on SubStack. What more could you possibly want in life?
Jokes aside, for those discovering this newsletter for the first time, my name is Joel and I’m a photographer sometimes. Several years ago, I got the idea to do one photo a day for three months in a row. In 2022, I decided to do it again, this time using SubStack to distribute the photos to my viewer and readership. As a commercial project, well, it could have been better. As a personal achievement, it was amazing.
One of the problems with doing anything for a long time is that it becomes routine. And, for me, that meant that taking pictures, walking around my neighborhood, and putting out newsletters were all becoming routine. Reviving 91 Days managed to turn all three of those activities into something new and exciting again and I was happy to be able to share the project with people.
In fact, it was so liberating and so energizing that I did it again the next year. And then 2024 happened and I felt myself losing the spark again. So, rather than force things, I just decided to take a beat and see what happened. Well, what happened was, March 1st rolled around and I had my camera and I thought, “You know, I could…” and here we are. I hope you enjoy this project and thank you for sticking with me.
Index:
1 March 2025 - Night Train - If you’re like me, some words get stuck in your head as part of a song. In this case, it’s Guns 'n’ Roses. If you know, you know. Anyway, I was quite pleased with how this came out. It’s not often that I try to do motion photography, especially at night but I thought this one worked rather well.
2 March 2025 - Shadow Power - Previous volumes of 91 Days were criticized for having too many pictures of powerlines. I’m just going to apologize in advance. But, in looking at the photos I chose for this first week, I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more near-silhouette photos. Something about them is really drawing my eye right now.
3 March 2025 - Suddenly Snow - A sudden snowstorm came up this week and gave everything a light dusting. I thought these trees looked a little forlorn, but also kind of menacing like they were waiting for a round-headed kid with a kite to come by.
4 March 2025 - Frog Prince - The frog here is one of the solar-powered lights we have in the garden walkway. The snow didn’t stick around long enough to impede his ability to light the path, just his dignity. Still, I thought this photo was kind of fun and was not at all taken so I wouldn’t have to spend any more time outside than absolutely necessary.
5 March 2025 - Tired - One of the things I enjoy most about living in the countryside is the sheer amount of “make do” that you see all around you. In this case, the trough that brings water to the rice fields needed a little bit of stabilizing. You could spend a bunch on new concrete and iron, or you could use a few old tires you had sitting around the place.
6 March 2025 - Almost - The buds have broken through and the branches of the trees are not quite bare anymore. We’ll have flowers out inside next week and that will be the first true herald of spring. It’s a little later and a little wetter than usual but no less welcome for that.
7 March 2025 - Budding Branchings - As I said, I think silhouettes may end up being an unofficial theme of this volume. Something about the sky and the way it backlights all the trees as they stretch out and get ready for spring sunshine is welcoming and optimistic and I think we could all use a bit of that right now.
