1 for you, 1 for me. Instantly!

The 24 Hour Project is an annual, one-day (12:01am > 11:59pm), worldwide photography event focused (literally) on documenting humanity, in order to raise awareness of (and money for) various humanitarian non-government organizations (aka “NGO’s”). Please learn more about them here and consider supporting the organizations with which they are affiliated…

A few of my virtual “photo-friends” participated in 24 Hour Projects in 2017-2018, during which they captured and posted marvelous images from the streets of their chosen city or town. So, of course, I jumped at the chance, when three of them asked me to join them for the 2019 event in NYC! It would be a good time and serve to raise awareness for worthy causes…

Here are a few images (from my main Instagram) taken during the Project in 2019. Image 2 is shot-on-iPhone, while images 1, 3, 4 & 5 are shot on SONY Alpha 6500, edited in the Hipstamatic iPhone app to look like faux Polaroids and other film print formats with white borders:

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A post shared by Russ Murray (@remages)

The Next 24 Hour Project…

My group of photo-friends and I were excited to participate again in 2020, but COVID canceled it due to the lockdowns worldwide. Then, as vaccinations started in March of 2021, we waited and watched as the 24 Hour Project was pushed back from it’s usual month of May… Finally, the 2021 Project was confirmed for Saturday, July 24th — an auspicious and appropriate date!

As I prepared for my second Project with the gang in NYC, I decided to bring my pre-pandemic Polaroid passion to the 24 Hour Project and shoot some instant photos along with the usual digitals! I recalled how each of us had paid $5 each for one or more “permission” photos in 2019, and how the “pizza girls” (see my first shot above) shot cost me $10 because I didn’t have a smaller bill… The middle one (with the big smile and pizza in her mouth) plucked the ten from my hand saying, “That’s fine!” LOL

To minimize cost of the instant shots, I came up with the idea of a “one-for-you-one-for-me” offer for my subjects, and the tags #1foryou1forme and #one4youone4me to use on my Instagram posts. Since I would be shooting Instax Mini format instant Film, it would cost approximately USD $1 per exposure, so $2 for each photo I took home, since I would give one (their choice) to the subject. Better than shelling out $5-$10 per permission for a digital shot, and it’s way more fun and interactive with the subjects!

When I packed up my orange Instax Mini camera and headed out to the July 24, 2021 Project, I had big plans to take MANY instant photos along with the one-per-hour (required) digitals I’d be posting. But as the sheer exhaustion of trudging through the night and next day settled in, it ended up being too much time and effort to greet, propose, explain, take two instant photos, compare the two, help the subject pick one to keep, and finish with heartfelt thanks. Also, as the sun rose, the ebullient, inebriated revelers of NYC nightlife disappeared, along with their “judgment-impaired” interest in having an instant photo of themselves. And, as you can imagine, the revelers at night made better subjects! I decided to leave the camera in my backpack along with the boxes of Instax film I’d brought, and just go digital…

These are the five (yep, that’s all I got!) Instax Mini photos I kept from the Midnight — 6am shift, after each subject chose the one they wanted:

You can check out the digitals I captured when not shooting Instax during the 2021 24 Hour Project on my @remages or @OHOScene Instagram feeds.

As a result of the fun I had shooting Instax Mini on the 2021 Project, I decided to keep going with the #1foryou1forme / #one4youone4me approach in my personal and work-related instant photography, when appropriate. It’s a great icebreaker with strangers who might not agree to be photographed, even for money. And it’s a terrific goodwill-generator and a lot of fun to shoot my clients (not the way it sounds), leaving them with one to take home!

Here are four Instax Mini (with random color-frame) shots taken at a client (model agency) in DUMBO Brooklyn recently: