Artist Says a Word Every Day for a Year in Fresh Take on Photo-a-Day Challenge
The photo-a-day project is a well-trodden path that’s been taken up by photographers challenging themselves to shoot every day, as well as people taking selfies every day. There have even been studies done about its benefits.
But Berlin-based graphic designer Henry Brown has put a new twist on the photo-a-day challenge by saying a word every day throughout 2025 in a thoughtful and creative video.
Recorded while going about his day-to-day business, each word Brown speaks is part of a meditation on life, ageing, and memory.
“These days, next weekend comes around before I’ve even finished processing last week, and my August is already fully booked at the start of the year,” he says over the period starting January 27 and finishing February 21.
Brown also uses clever hooks in the video, such as stating his age the day before his birthday and on his birthday. “Right now, I’m 25, 26 years old,” as the day flips over to May 18, Brown’s birthday.
“Scripting this so you could say ’25’ right before your birthday so you can immediately update to ’26’ is my favorite detail,” writes one YouTube commenter.
“Finally, someone who takes the ‘I took a photo of myself every day for…’ and gave us something deeper to think about,” adds another. “Genius video and insane dedication.”
The full transcript of what Brown says can be read below.
What is a year? When I was younger, anything over a few minutes was inconceivable. Going somewhere ‘in an hour’i might as well have meant tomorrow. These days, next weekend comes around before I’ve even finished processing last week, and my August is already fully booked at the start of the year. And a year sometimes feels like nothing at all. I suppose this is inevitable. Everyone laments that time speeds up as you get older. And it’s fair — units of time are like the routes you regularly travel. By the hundredth time you make the trip to work, or your partner’s house, or the grocery store, you know what comes after every turn. And the journey feels so much shorter than when everything was new. But is time really flying? Right now, I’m 25, 26 years old. In just four years, I’ll be 30. But how can I say that my twenties ‘flew past’ if I can’t remember what I did on June 15, 2025? [Proceeds to say what he did that day while shaving his head] It’s impossible to hold all the moments of your life all the time. Sure. But pick a random date five years ago, and try to remember exactly what you did and felt. Chances are that it’ll start feeling a lot further away. Like I was a completely different person at 20. Still me, only a different me. So then— since when have I been THIS me? 14-year-old me was definitely someone else, but last February feels just as foreign to me sometimes. How much DO the circumstances of my life need to change before I can consider myself… evolved? Maybe I get to decide. Because theoretically, I am not the me who wrote this sentence. Nor am I the me who’s uploading this video. And who knows who I’ll be by the time you watch/see this. All these versions of me may look similar, but there’s a new ‘me’ in my skin every day, each carrying a different set of experiences and a different outlook on life. Making decisions to the best of his abilities. It’s hard to imagine THIS me making meaningful changes to my life, but three hundred sixty-five me’s might just make a difference.
