Back in December 2011 the nice people over at Serious Compacts had an idea for a photo project. "Single in January" was a simple concept - take one shot a day and post it. What sounded like a walk in the park actually turned out to be an interesting and enjoyable challenge of photographic skills, tenacity and imagination.



I made it both easier and harder for myself by using a single camera - the excellent Ricoh GRD III, which by definition meant a single focal length (28mm). I made it harder by not only choosing to work in monochrome, but also the "HiBW" high contrast mode that is available on Ricoh compacts. This gives a moody, grainy texture that suits some, but by no means all subjects.



By far the hardest part of the exercise was finding a "worthy" photo to take and post every day. I didn't "cheat" - I would only have been cheating myself - so every photo was genuinely taken on the day in question; the EXIF doesn't lie. As a result on some days I was spoiled for choice with more than one candidate, whereas on others I had to really stretch my imagination and creativity to come up with something.



The text on each page was also written on the day. It is interesting to look back nearly 12 months later and see how much the world has moved on - or not.



This was a grand way to put some photographic structure into an otherwise dreary and dull month. The result is this book. I hope it gives some enjoyment and some motivation for others to get out there and take a picture - one a day or many...