# Photo A Day > Photo A Day is a 2004 participatory photo challenge where people photograph themselves daily and compile the images into time-lapse videos, popularized by Noah Kalina's 2006 six-year YouTube self-portrait film. Photo-a-Day projects, also known as Project 365, involve taking one photograph every day and sharing the results through blogs, video compilations, or social media. Web developer George Taylor McKnight formalized the concept as an internet challenge in 2004[2], though filmmaker Jamie Livingston had been shooting daily Polaroids since 1979[1]. The format went viral in 2006 when Noah Kalina and Ahree Lee uploaded YouTube time-lapse compilations of years of daily self-portraits, turning a private creative exercise into a global participatory trend[3]. ## Origin One early precedent is *The Brown Sisters*, a portrait series by photographer Nicholas Nixon that began in 1975. Nixon shot a single group portrait of his wife and her three sisters each year, always in the same left-to-right arrangement, creating a stark visual record of aging displayed at institutions including the National Gallery of Art[5]. Jamie Livingston, a filmmaker and Bard College student, acquired a Polaroid SX-70 camera in 1979 and noticed after a few weeks that he was averaging about one photo per day[6]. He committed to the routine and called it "Photo of the Day." Over 18 years he produced more than 6,000 Polaroids capturing friends, picnics, street scenes, and TV screens showing presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton[4]. Livingston died of a brain tumor on October 25, 1997, his 41st birthday. His final Polaroid was a self-portrait from his deathbed[1]. The modern internet challenge format started in 2004 when web developer George Taylor McKnight began taking a photo every day as a personal creative exercise. He called it Project 365[2]. After completing the year, he reflected: "Relationships with people are the most important thing in life. Project 365: Best idea ever"[2]. McKnight took 2005 off, then resumed in 2006, this time using Flickr to host his images and starting a group that encouraged other photographers to join the challenge[5]. - **Platform:** Personal blog (George Taylor McKnight), YouTube (viral compilations), Flickr (community groups) - **Creator:** George Taylor McKnight (Project 365 originator), Noah Kalina (Everyday video creator), Ahree Lee (first video compilation), Jamie Livingston (Polaroid-a-Day pioneer) - **Date:** 2004 ## Overview Photo-a-Day projects follow one core idea: take a photograph every day and keep it. Some practitioners shoot only self-portraits, producing time-lapse videos that compress years of aging into minutes. Others photograph whatever catches their eye. The practice serves as a creative discipline, a photography training method, and a personal record that reveals patterns invisible day-to-day[10]. The tradition spans analog and digital eras. Photographers experimented with daily and annual photo series long before the internet existed. Digital cameras, Flickr, and YouTube opened the practice to anyone with a camera and a connection, turning solitary creative exercises into shared global challenges with dedicated communities and millions of participants[3]. ## How It Spread McKnight's Project 365 got its first media attention from photography site Photojojo and Lifehacker in October 2006[10]. The viral breakthrough came through YouTube. On August 11, 2006, California-based artist Ahree Lee uploaded a time-lapse video assembling three years of daily self-portraits. She had used a Nikon with a flip screen, Photoshop to align her eyes, and After Effects for animation, investing 200 to 300 hours total[3]. Sixteen days later, Noah Kalina uploaded *Everyday*, a six-minute compilation of 2,356 daily photos taken from January 11, 2000, to July 31, 2006, set to a piano score by his then-girlfriend Carly Comando[3]. Kalina's video spread fast. The New York Times featured his work, quoting Musée de l'Élysée director William A. Ewing: "Noah's video represents a phenomenal amplification not just in what he produced and how he did it, but how many people the piece touched in such a short period of time. There is nothing comparable in the history of photography"[3]. As of 2025, the video has over 27 million YouTube views[9]. New communities formed around the concept. A self-portrait-only Flickr pool launched in January 2008, and dedicated platforms like 365 Project (2009) and P365 (2009) gave daily photographers their own social spaces. McKnight's original Flickr group grew to over 26,000 members with nearly 1.5 million photos by 2012[5]. ## How to Use The basic Photo-a-Day format is simple: 1. **Pick a start date.** January 1 is the most common choice, but any day works. 2. **Take one photo every day.** Self-portraits, random subjects, or themed shots all count. Consistency matters more than perfection[10]. 3. **Share it somewhere.** Instagram, a blog, a Flickr group, or a dedicated platform are all common choices. 4. **Compile the results.** Many participants create a time-lapse video, a photo book, or an online gallery. ## Cultural Impact Kalina's *Everyday* video earned attention from the art world, featured in the exhibition "We're All Photographers Now" at the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne as a key example of how digital technology was changing portrait photography[3]. The NBA used Carly Comando's piano score from the video in its "Where Amazing Happens" ad campaign from 2007 to 2012[9]. Jamie Livingston's Polaroid collection took on a second life as a viral internet discovery story in 2008, with coverage from the New York Times, the Guardian, and Fox News[1][4][13]. The Bard College exhibition drew visitors who had followed Chris Higgins' Mental Floss investigation online[6]. FatMumSlim's Photo A Day challenge turned the format into a low-barrier social media community, attracting participants from hobbyists to small businesses[15]. The daily prompt structure influenced countless later Instagram and TikTok challenges built around the same principle of creative constraints. ## Fun Facts - Livingston's entire Polaroid collection was nearly lost in the late 1980s when he was evicted from his apartment and refuse collectors accidentally hauled away all his belongings. He recovered them by sorting through an entire garbage truck[4]. - Kalina's *Everyday* video took only four hours to assemble. The six years of daily photos were the hard part[3]. - Of Livingston's full collection, 86 Polaroids went missing over the years, leaving 6,697 intact[12]. - McKnight technically shot 366 photos in his first Project 365, since 2004 was a leap year[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Photo-a-Day? Photo-a-Day, also called Project 365, is a creative challenge where people take one photograph every day and share the results online through blogs, social networks, or video compilations[10]. ### Where did Photo-a-Day come from? The modern internet version started in 2004 when web developer George Taylor McKnight launched Project 365 as a personal photography challenge and shared it on his blog[2]. ### What does Photo-a-Day mean? It refers to the practice of documenting life through a single photograph each day, typically for at least a year. The concept serves as both a creative exercise and a personal time capsule[10]. ### How do you use Photo-a-Day? Take one photo daily and share it on a platform of your choice. You can shoot self-portraits for a time-lapse video, follow prompt lists like FatMumSlim's #FMSPAD, or photograph whatever catches your attention[7]. ### Is Photo-a-Day still popular? The format is well established with active communities. Noah Kalina's original *Everyday* video has over 27 million YouTube views as of 2025, and he still takes a daily self-portrait over two decades into his project[9]. ### Who is Jamie Livingston? Jamie Livingston was a New York-based filmmaker who took a Polaroid nearly every day from March 31, 1979, until his death on October 25, 1997, producing over 6,000 photographs. His friends digitized the collection and posted it online, where it became a viral discovery in 2008[1][6]. ### What is Noah Kalina's Everyday video? *Everyday* is a time-lapse video of 2,356 daily self-portraits taken by Noah Kalina from January 2000 to July 2006. Uploaded to YouTube in August 2006, it was featured by the New York Times and parodied on *The Simpsons*[3][8]. ### Did The Simpsons parody Photo-a-Day? Yes. The December 2007 episode "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" showed Homer aging over 39 years in a time-lapse sequence set to the same Carly Comando piano score from Kalina's video[8]. ### What is Project 365? Project 365 is the name George Taylor McKnight gave his 2004 challenge of taking one photo per day for a year. The name and concept spread through Flickr groups and photography blogs[2][10]. ### Who photographed Mark Zuckerberg's wedding? Noah Kalina, creator of the *Everyday* video, was selected to photograph the surprise wedding of Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in May 2012. The resulting image got over a million likes on Facebook[11]. ### How did Jamie Livingston's photos end up online? After Livingston's death, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid digitized the Polaroids and posted them to a website as a coordination tool for a Bard College exhibition. Writer Chris Higgins discovered the site in 2008 and wrote about it for Mental Floss, bringing it to a wide audience[6][4]. ### What is the FatMumSlim Photo A Day challenge? Created by Australian blogger Chantelle Ellem in 2012, it's a monthly Instagram challenge where each day has a word prompt to inspire a photo. Over 25 million photos have been shared using the #FMSPAD hashtag[7]. ## References 1. [18 Years and 6,000 Photos Later, Life Through Jamie Livingston’s Eyes - The New York Times]() 2. [How To Play Photo A Day | FMS Photo A Day Instagram Challenge]() 3. [Photo A Day Challenge 2018 - 'Stitches of Life']() 4. [Photo-a-Day - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Distracted boyfriend]() 6. [Photo-a-Day - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Portrait photography]() 8. [Nicholas Nixon]() 9. [Jamie Livingston]() 10. [Everyday (video)]() 11. [Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind]() 12. [Everyday (video) - Wikipedia]() 13. [12.31.04| The Project 365 Recap]() 14. [George Taylor McKnight]() 15. [Nicholas Nixon | Museum of Fine Arts Boston]() 16. [Bard Press Releases]() 17. [Jamie Livingston: some photos of that day]() 18. [Daily Polaroids Detail Last 18 Years of NYC Man's Life | Fox News]() 19. [Digital Self-Portraits - Noah Kalina - Everyday - Art - The New York Times]() 20. [Instant recall | Photography | The Guardian]() 21. [Project 365: Take a photo a day for a year | Lifehacker]() 22. [He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died]() 23. [D’oh-tube! Internet Sensation Scores Big Simpsons Moment | Observer]() 24. [Meet Noah Kalina, the Zuckerberg Wedding Photographer and Former Viral-Video Sensation]() 25. [Parabo Press: Homepage]() 26. [The Arrow of Time]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/photo-a-day Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library