Shutter Sisters

365-grateful

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Photos by Hailey Bartholomew from her 365: grateful project

Have you ever discovered work from another photographer that touched your heart, in terms of what and how they shoot?, that you almost felt like you would be friends, if it wasn’t for the fact they lived on opposite sides of the world.

I felt exactly this way when I discovered Hailey Bartholomew last year, her work is so full of dreamy colours, glorious sunshine and true happiness, whether photographing or filming her family or clients… there was an immediate connection for me. I had just finished my 365:to be thankful everyday project, so when I delved deeper into her blog and saw her collection of photos and films from her 365:grateful project, I was totally smitten with her. This simple idea of photographing and recognising something to be thankful for each day, has changed Hailey’s and my life forever. Hailey says “Just having the camera physically with me every day caused a shift in the way I was thinking. Previously I was concentrating on the negative, but doing this made me consciously look for the positive. That process literally changed the way my brain was working, shifting it from always focusing on the bad to the good.” I totally agree!

Now Hailey, with the help of other family members, is taking the 365:grateful idea on to greater and bigger things. She is embarking on making a documentary about the extraordinary power of gratitude, she will be traveling to the US and hopefully the UK (fingers crossed, I’m so looking forward to meeting you), interviewing world leaders, authors, artists, scientists, spiritual teachers and musicians discussing topics such as health, happiness, relationships, marriage, mental health and the environment, the film will explore the effect that gratitude has on all facets of life. I’m so excited for her, I just know it will be filled with good vibes and messages, along with the beautiful colourful imagery you find in all her work.

Please take a look at their funding site and learn how you can get involved, you can watch a video of Hailey speaking about this project and how to help this film financially, I know every little amount of money counts, so if a 365:grateful project has touched your life, perhaps you can help & make a difference.

I’d love to hear if you’re on a similar 365 journey, or contemplating starting one, or how about taking a moment today to search out and reflect on something you are grateful for. I know it would thrill Hailey to see all that we are grateful for today.


Comments

  3. I have a gratitude journal that I try to keep up, although it's certainly not every day. Thanks for this wonderful post and the introduction to a new photographer!

  5. I've found that during my first 365, I watched the number of my depressed days dwindle. There was something for me. No one else, just me & I looked forward to it almost every day. It really did change my life.

  6. I'd like to think that I live my life being thankful and grateful for every experience (positive or negative) that I have. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of my father's very unexpected passing. It was because of this I began the lofty goal of running a 1/2 marathon in his name…which started me down the road to a healthier me…Physically and mentally.

    While I can't be grateful for his passing I can be grateful what it led to and what running has done for me.
    http://365-aphotographicjourney.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-56.html

  8. A gratitude photography a day is an interesting idea. I've done a 365 project before, but not one so specific.

    I do keep a gratitude journal, though. However, since I am a photographer a photograph sounds awesome!

    I love the documentary idea, too! It gave me chills when I was reading over your description. Going to check out the website now 😀

    WW

  9. I am so excited to get to know Hailey's work – thanks for the introduction. My 365 project has been similarly transformative. Aside from seeing the world through a more positive lens, I find myself continually astounded by the small details I notice because of my 365, amazing things I have always rushed right past without even seeing. It's that very thing I am appreciating in today's post:
    http://www.birdwannawhistle.com/blog/2011/5/6/time-machine.html

  12. this is such a brilliant approach. i'm doing a 365-project and getting a little tired, but this mindset might be just what the doctor ordered. i will visit hailey now for more.

  13. Thanks for the introduction to Hailey's work! It's wonderful! I wish her much luck in her new project!

    I am thankful for SO many things in my life but most of all for the health of my children. A few months ago I learned that a little girl at my daughter's school has brain cancer. They have been through so much. A day has not gone by since without me feeling a PROFOUND sense of gratitude with God and the universe for keeping my daughters healthy and whole. It's not like I didn't know cancer didn't exist before or that these things don't happen, but there was something about actually looking at her mother in the eye and SEEING her pain so clearly that left me breathless. So I now I give thanks every single day but with a fervor I didn't know before. I give thanks at all times, the great ones, the good ones and also the times when they drive me crazy and don't let me sleep past 6:00AM.

  15. i think it is wonderful to do a gratitude project. thanks for introducing us to Hailey. i think i am going to start doing this, i do it mentally but the more i take pictures the more my pictures speak of my days and feelings. what i am wondering is can i start in the middle of the year. i am going to allow myself to!

  17. I am grateful for the light in my life, in every sense of the word. It's become so much easier to remember it, too. I am about halfway through my first 365, and I am grateful for how much more creativity I have in my life because of it.

  18. my 365 of gratitude began back in nov of 2008, little did i know that those 365 days would be some of the hardest of my adult life to date. it was a heavy personal year for me but each day i would shoot and search for beauty even on the darkest of days… and there Is beauty even on those dark dark days. i can attest to that.
    finishing that 365 was such a release. i persevered when many days i just wanted to give up on SO many things, not just the 365 itself. looking back on it now it is one of my largest personal accomplishments. i look forward to the day when my children are older and hear of the pain that year held but that through all of that there was so much beauty. i think that is a huge life lesson for me and one i hope to pass onto them.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/sets/72157608567502330/with/2992219917/

  19. Argh, I thought I posted to thank you Shutter Sisters but do not see it here… if I have already, delete this one.

    Brilliant coverage of our project.

    Thank you! Toni

  21. I am so happy you posted about this amazing film! I am doing a project too. It is called A Hundred Thank Yous. I am doing 100 paintings for 100 people who have touched my life. It has been so wonderful! So far I have 50 paintings finished- half way through! Then I will have an exhibition of all the paintings and start to give them away. Toni and Hailey are planning to come to the exhibition. I am so amazed with how much focusing on gratitude has made my life sweeter. I am very grateful for Hailey and her project that got me started!

    http://loriportka.com/a-hundred-thank-yous/