About the project

The idea of ​​this collective project was born from some conversations with other photographers during the first lock-down in 2020. We were looking for a way to feel close through photography, even when the preventive measures kept us at a distance.

We chose to use the self-timer, which also allowed those who remained alone at home to participate.

We set time limits (one image per day for seven days) and thematic limits (in each shot there had to be a particular type of clothing and specific objects).

The 2020 images were made in the week from Saturday 18 to Friday 24 April by thirty participants, who resided in eleven Italian cities and eight cities in six countries spread across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The first edition was received with deep enthusiasm. Someone thanked us "for making sense of the days of that week".

A year later, in a situation still far from returning to "normal", but which somehow saw us all changed, we re-proposed the self-portraits project, in the same way and with the same themes in order to explore continuity and change from 2020 to 2021. The 2020 participants have been invited and we have extended the invitations to other people.

The project took place between Saturday 24 and Friday 30 April, when the confinement rules were different between provinces, regions and countries.

In the second edition, different reactions to the invitations were observed: of the thirty people or couples who participated in 2020, only 12 joined the new initiative, while 18 new participants joined the project.

Once again we covered a part of the world: Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland, Wales and Holland), Africa (Madagascar) and Asia (Qatar).

We tried again in 2022 but this third (and last) edition has revealed that times have really changed in favour of a regained freedom, but also of less time available. We are all busier, we have taken back our lives and our commitments and this has been reflected in the level of participation. Let's see how: three participants provided photos for all three editions (2020-2021-2022) and six, in the third and second (2021-2022). This year we have only gained one new participant.

Regarding geographic coverage, we have added Congo and the United States to Wales, Switzerland and Qatar, already present in previous editions.

So here we are to show you the result of these three years of exploration!

You will find the three series of shots (per day and per participant) for each year and in the “mixed” sections the evolutions of those who have participated in multiple editions.

We are very happy to have come this far.

A big thank you to all the participants for contributing to this joint exercise!

Share this experience on social networks, blogs, this is our hastagh:

#unasettimanadiautoscatti

Until next time!

Michele and Daniela