You’ve probably seen Jonathan Keller because he’s taken a photo of himself every day for TEN YEARS (he started when he was 22!) and, I have an unconfirmed suspicion that he has single-handedly started the “I Take a Photo Of Myself Everyday for X Days” YouTube boom. (If you want to do it yourself, this program might help.)

Anyway, the brilliant part about JK is that the video isn’t his only project. He is a project man. And, as usual, I’m having a hugely hard time selectively picking things to show you. Basically, I want to recreate his web-page on my web-page. Not practical. Or legal. So you should just visit it.

  1. American Sign Language Alphabet Matchbooks (This is actually how I discovered Jonathan’s web-page. Later, I found out I had seen 3000 pictures of him on YouTube.)
  2. Daily Photo Project (video below)
  3. Random Comments, such as those found in this Random Leftover Survey
  4. Photobooth project from fromktoj.com, which is actually a project by Jonathan’s wife. Photobooth key is so pretty! ALSO, I WEAR LIME GREEN.
  5. How to Hold a Design Poster (hahaha! TRUE!)
  6. Songs About Rainbows (or, as I like to call it, How to Ruin your Entire Filing System)
  7. Box Bots, robots made of cardboard boxes (you can submit your own!)

I wanted to ask Jonathan about a billion questions about his photo project, then decided not to, and then ended up asking a few anyway. Luckily, he has (quite humorously) answered photo-project FAQs (er, AQs) on his web-page (seriously, go read it, my interview is very informative, but this is funny!).

According to his web-site, five years ago he was quite the internet star (as interpreted by me based on the number of emails he received never mind his youtube views), so I imagine with about 1000 more photos under his belt he’s quite the star now. Moral of the story: I consider myself lucky that I even got through the massive spam filter I hope he now has installed in his email.


“From 2003 January 01 to 2003 July 11 I received 2111 eMails to my website account. 613 of which were real eMails from people about the site, with 35 containing ‘love’. 1498 were junk eMail, 10 of which were apparently sent from the future (2038), and 59 containing ‘love’.” -JK (PS I made the graphic with Daytum)

How would you describe your art projects to someone who hasn’t seen them?
Ah, my elevator pitch is a tough sell. Thankfully I can just pull out my iPhone and show people. In the event that I, God forbid, don’t have my mobile portfolio, I begin by saying that most of my projects lie near the intersection of design, code & craft and are dictated by some sort of logical system. But in my systems, logic does not beget sense. In fact, the end result is often an amplification of the simplistic nature of the system’s assumptions and interpretations. Accumulation, iteration and revaluing the mundane also factor in often. When that explanation leaves one befuddled, I say “I’ve taken a photo of myself every day for the past 10 years. There’s a video of it on YouTube.”

When that explanation leaves one befuddled, I say “I’ve taken a photo of myself every day for the past 10 years. There’s a video of it on YouTube.”

What’s with the “c71123″?
When I was 5 years old, my father asked me to remember the numbers of three cows (the ‘c’) that needed to be bred (he was a professional artificial inseminator). The numbers were 7, 11, & 23. Being the math/number dork that I was at that age, I set out to remember those numbers for as long as I possibly could. 27 years later they hold a certain amount of nostalgic appeal. I knew the odd alphanumerics would be available as a URL, while also subtly referencing spam and numbered email addresses like hotgirl69@email.com.


What’s your favorite project you’ve done?

My favorite project is perpetually the one I just finished and put up online. There is nothing more satisfying than getting work out there for others to see. Though, to answer the spirit of question, I’d say the Princess Peach shirt as it encompasses most of the interests I’ve been involved with since I was young while also achieving what I desire for all my projects.


Which is your favorite box bot?

Like most things subjective, it’s hard to choose a single one. Overall, I like the way the beer and cigarette packages turn out. Odd, since I’ve never smoked and drink rarely. If I had to choose one to be my friend, it’d have to be the Dos Equis bug, while my mortal enemy would be the ogre Mr. Guinness. I think I can safely say that my least favorite is Boston Lager. A black mark on the otherwise shining beer genre.


What project has gotten the most reception from the public?

It’s quite humbling to be able to say that millions of people have seen a project I created.

The Adaption to My Generation (a daily photo project) by far. Check out the number comments on my site for proof positive. I’ve been fortunate enough to be featured in some very public spaces online and off and it’s quite humbling to be able to say that millions of people have seen a project I created.

What’s your process for taking photos of yourself? (more…)