Larry Strung made a portrait a day of his fellow residents of Hamilton, Ontario, for an entire year. Check out Hamilton365 (actually it was 366, since 2008 was a leap year). That's civic pride.
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Mike (Thanks toYvonne Cunnington)
sorry...what?
Posted by: cog | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 04:39 PM
Hamilton365 is a fantastic project, and I’m from Toronto, downwind from the Steel Town.
I haven’t made it through the entire year yet, but so far I have found several faces that are quite familiar to Canadians.
December 22 , Lincoln, has some significance for your side of the Great Lakes Mike. The Honourable Lincoln Alexander was a former member of the Provincial Legislature, and a former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. His humble manner and quiet dignity was an inspiration for both blacks and whites, all at a time when Obama was still in kindergarten.
Well done Larry.
Posted by: Grant | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 04:39 PM
Your choice of image from this collection is a boost for Hamilton as well :-)
Posted by: Dean Forbes | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 04:39 PM
Ahhh, that was a pleasant hour. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Paul De Zan | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 04:39 PM
Great project, wonderful portraits, all. Thanks for the pointer, Mike!
/bob
Posted by: Bob Travis | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 08:29 PM
Excellent series. Once I started I simply had to look at all the photos.
Posted by: erlik | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 08:29 PM
As somebody who grew up close to Hamilton (west end of Toronto), I think he really has captured the vibrancy of the city - long maligned by those who know nothing at all about it. Aside from the sheer scope (and generosity) of the project, I'm impressed by the quality of the photography, he really seems to have engaged with his subjects. Wow, a great find.
Posted by: Mike A | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 08:29 PM
As Hamilton is beside Burlington, and Hamilton has been known for years as a lunch-bucket city
based upon the former steel companies of
Stelco and Dofasco.Both companies are now owend by other companies: Dofasco by Acerleor0Mittal, Stelco by US Steel. And from a high number of employees in the 1950's,
the two companies now total less than 10,000 employees. Hamilton'ss biggest employer is now Health Sciences with the McMaster University Medical School as well as many other large educational institutions.
Ironically it has taken an outsider the
initiatie to do the histroical treatise.
Posted by: Bryce Lee in next-door Burlington, Ontario | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 08:46 PM
What a terrific idea for a project. I would love to see this type of thing take off in cities all over the world. Thanks very much for linking this.
Posted by: Tom K. | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 09:00 PM
As a lifelong Hamilton resident, I was aware of the project during the year it was underway. I feel really silly for not having thought to submit it here!
I know several of the people pictured, and I was pleased to learn that Mr. Strung was photographing both random citizens of the city, as well as specifically arranging to cover the people who stood out and were making a difference in the community. He's made us all proud!
Posted by: Stephen S. | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 09:02 PM
I have to commend Larry for making it through an entire year. I'm nearly finished with my Polaroid 366 project, and it's been a serious lesson in discipline to make myself get a shot every day. Shooting portraits every day takes another level of determination. Kudos to him for making it happen.
Posted by: John Ryan Brubaker | Monday, 05 January 2009 at 09:09 PM
What a great idea - and amazing photos. I've been following a ton of photo 365 blogs, so I too had to look through all the images. It's amazing what you can learn about someone by seeing how they capture the world.
Posted by: Lori Osterberg | Tuesday, 06 January 2009 at 08:19 PM
I notice that in Larry's self-portraits he's accompanied by a classic Nikon F, which is consistent with the look of his photographs. It just goes to show you that as wonderful as DSLRs are, it's still possible to do great work on film.
Posted by: Gordon Lewis | Wednesday, 07 January 2009 at 07:47 AM
Unfortunately, the Nikon F is just for show, and he shot all of the subjects I know about with a DSLR, and was showing them the shots on the LCD as he worked
Posted by: Stephen S. | Saturday, 10 January 2009 at 08:13 PM
Wow, this is great... I've just left Hamilton after finishing my degree at McMaster, and it's great to see the city represented on TOP! I only wish I'd known about this while I was there.
Posted by: Tyler Law | Wednesday, 14 January 2009 at 01:14 PM