Saturday, January 2, 2010

December Recap


Happy New Year everybody! What an incredible year 2009 was. It was such a great journey and I have met so many wonderful and talented people along the way. Thank you to everyone who has participated in my portrait project here. It was such an honor to have spent time with you and to take your portrait. I am so lucky to have had the chance to meet people from all over.

I know some of you thought I should make myself the last portrait but I had already shot myself earlier this year. Take a scroll back and find me! But the main reason I chose not to make myself the last portrait was because I wanted to be surprised. I didn't want to plan or think about that too much. I also knew that it would be hard to choose one person so shooting a family seemed to be a great way to end the project.

I have been going back and forth with whether or not I should continue the project in 2010 and I have also decided not to continue L'image Quotidienne in this new year. I am sorry if I am disappointing anyone but this project was to be for one year and although it would be great to continue on, indefinitely for that matter, there are some other projects that I would like to work on. I know I won't be able to completely stop shooting portraits of random people I see on the street but please look for those posts on my M Photo blog.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and support. I am so grateful. But before I say goodbye I wanted to leave you all with two last portraits. They are the same ladies I shot at the beginning of this blog. What a difference a year makes! And please don't forget to check out what my December portraits are into. Super cool stuff people!

Thanks again and all the best in 2010!!

Mercedes

Alan Gallo Photographer - Artist- Musician

Portraits 365 #365

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 31, 2009
#365
Chris Geison
36 years old
Hometown - Baltimore, MD
2009 was the best year of my life.

#365
Innbo Shim
36 years old
Hometown - New York
2009 is the year Kyuin came into my life.

#365
Sean Frechette
36 years old
Hometown - Toledo, OH
2009 is overwhelming

#365
Kyuin
5 months old
Hometown - Brooklyn, NY
2009 is...

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Portraits 365 #364

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 30, 2009
#364
Alan Gallo
57 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is a year of promise and a year of fear.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Portraits 365 #363

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 29, 2009
#363
Jake Malmberg
33 years old
Hometown - Fargo, ND
2009 is just OK.

Portraits 365 #361

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 27, 2009
#361
Rob Ames
23 years old
Hometown - Providence, RI
2009 is almost over.

Portraits 365 #360

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 26, 2009
#360
Chuck Moran
27 years old
Hometown - Foxboro, MA
2009 is over.

#360
Brittany Albert
25 years old
Hometown - Lincoln, RI
2009 was fantastic.

Portraits 365 #359

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 25, 2009 - Merry Christmas!
#359
Lee Ann Potvin
43 years old
Hometown - Coventry, RI
2009 had its challenges but 2010 brings new beginnings.

Portraits 365 #358

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 24, 2009
#358
Sally McAndrew
30 years old
Hometown - Boston, MA
2009 is shaping up to be better than I thought.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Portraits 365 #357

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 23, 2009
#357
Martina Dalessandro
25 years old
Hometown - Sacramento, CA
2009 is almost over.

Portraits 365 #356

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 22, 2009
#356
Jeff Root
42 years old
Hometown - Kendall, NY
2009 is a turning point.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Portraits 365 #355

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 21, 2009
#355
Allyn Beltran
30 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is a great year.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Portraits 365 #354

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 20, 2009
#354
Maximus Julius Pauson
19 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is gray.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Portraits 365 #353

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 19, 2009
#353
Megan Bonde
25 years old
Hometown - Michigan
2009 is progress.

Portraits 365 #352

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 18, 2009
#352
Emily Moyer
35 years old
Hometown - Chicago, IL
2009 is a lot of new things.

Portraits 365 #351

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 17, 2009
#351
Ferni Eilizalde
23 years old
Hometown - Tucson, AZ
2009 sucks.

Portraits 365 #350

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 16, 2009
#350
Elliot Engel
24 years old
Hometown - Plainfield, WI
2009 is a year of change.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Portraits 365 #349

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 15, 2009
#349
Grace Jones
41 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is fucked up.

Portraits 365 #348

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 14, 2009
#348
Desiree Hersey
21 years old
Hometown - Los Angeles, CA
2009 is epic.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Q+A

So many people have asked me numerous questions about this project and I have not been able to respond properly until now as I have just been so incredibly busy! I did not want to delay responding any further so I thought I would put together the list of questions I have received thus far and answer them here for everyone to see. And as more come in, I will post them here as well.

How did you come up with this idea?

I had just moved from New York to San Francisco and was having a hard time adjusting and learning the city. I wanted to do a large project so I thought that if I took a different portrait every single day for one year it would help me to meet new people and it would entice me to travel and explore the city even more.

Do you just walk up to random people and shoot their portrait?

Basically, yes.

Was it hard to go up to random people and take their portrait? Were they random?

At first, it was hard and a little bit scary as I really didn't know how people were going to react. It definitely got easier the more I did it. The majority of the people I have shot are complete strangers. I have also shot people I know.

How do you approach people?

I will go up to a stranger and ask them if they could help me with a project I am working on. I have found that when you ask for help, people become very open and generally do want to help you. I then tell them that I am doing a portrait project where I am photographing a different person every single day for the entire year of 2009 and then I ask them if they would be my
#??? portrait. I tell them that I have a blog where my portraits live, and that I will send the link to them as well as the individual pictures.

Do you find people are open to having their photo taken and posted on a blog or do you have to convince them?

I have found that most people are open to being photographed and do not mind being part of the blog. I do tell everyone about the blog before I start shooting as I know some people feel weird about the internet. I did have one person agree to be photographed but then decided not to do as she did not want to be on the blog. I, of course, respect everyone's choices and if they say no, then I just move right along. I don't want to have to convince anyone to be a part of the project. I am not looking to make people feel uncomfortable.

Do you really take a photo of someone new every day?

Yes. I shoot someone new every single day. I also don't shoot a few people and then choose which one will be the portrait of the day. Once I find a person to say yes to being a part of the project, they then become the portrait of the day.

Are you a photographer?

Yes, I freelance.

Do you take all the pictures or do people submit them to you?

I take all the pictures myself.

What camera are you using?

I shoot with the Canon 5D with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I also only shoot with available light. I then edit the images in Lightroom and make final tweaks is Photoshop for the chosen pictures.

Will you continue in 2010? Perhaps in a new city?

I don't know yet. I would love to hear more thoughts and suggestions about continuing on next year, though. Perhaps L'image Quotidienne can live on forever! I would certainly need help with that! :)

Portraits 365 #347

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 13, 2009
#347
Larry Green
40 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is wonderful.

Portraits 365 #346

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 12, 2009
#346
Anthony Lymon
41 years old
Hometown - Redondo Beach, CA
2009 isn't over yet.

Portraits 365 #345

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 11, 2009
#345
Greg Michail
30 years old
Hometown - Rowland Heights, CA
2009 has been a practice in posterity.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Portraits 365 #344

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 10, 2009
#344
Chuck Speta
47 years old
Hometown - San Francisco, CA
2009 is a breakthrough year.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Portraits 365 #343

Take a portrait. Every single day. For one year.


December 9, 2009
#343
Justin White
31 years old
Hometown - Lagunitas, CA
2009 is slow.