Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Times
A year-long collective photography project
We are living through a time that feels uncertain, fractured, and difficult to fully grasp.
This project is an opportunity to slow down and pay attention to what life actually looks like right now, not through headlines or narratives, but through exchanged visual slices.
Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Times brings together 24 photographers to create a shared sense of how life is unfolding now, capturing small-slices of daily experience over the course of a year.
The shape of the project
- 12 months one full year of sustained attention
- 24 photographers a small collective across the U.S.
- 24 hours a full day and night cycle explored over time
Each month, you will be assigned a specific time. During that month, you will create:
one image in the AM
one image in the PM
Over the course of the year, these assigned times will shift, guiding you through early morning, midday, evening, and late night, until you have moved through a complete 24-hour cycle.
What we are creating together
This project is about working together to create a visual record of now. We’ll explore how morning unfolds in our communities and homes. And what defines an afternoon. We’ll stretch our images past twilight into cozy evenings at home, all-night diners and starlit nights. We’ll watch 24 lives stretch and fold across four seasons. Different places. Different circumstances. The same passing hours.
Together, these images form a layered portrait of now, revealed one hour at a time.
What you’ll receive and create
- 12 monthly Zoom gatherings held on the third Wednesday of each month, beginning just before the summer solstice on 2026
- 24 images you create throughout the year that will form your own series
- 24 unique postcards received one from each photographer and one of your own
- 24 of your images mailed out to others in the group across the year
Each month, your selected two images are sent to OneWorldSeen. We handle everything from there. Our team will upload your images ahead of the monthly zoom meeting and prepare them to be printed and shipped out to two other photographers in the group. In addition to the monthly meetings, you can look forward to receiving two images by mail each month of your fellow collaborators and the fun of your two images surprising another member of the group by mail. OneWorldSeen will manage the rotation of images being received and mailed.
Why it matters
This project creates space to respond visually to what is actually happening currently in our own daily life and surrounding community.
And the project is meant to be enjoyable. A chance to stretch your creativity within a thoughtful group of photographers.
The time commitment each month is minimal, but the experience will build into something meaningful over the year.
The commitment
Create and submit two images each month within your assigned time blocks
Participate in a monthly group session when possible
Stay engaged over the course of the year
Investment
- $1500 for the full 12-month experience
24 photographers. 12 months. 24 hours.
Your Instructors
Jennifer Spelman
Owner | Photographic Instructor
Jennifer Spelman is a documentary photographer, educator and workshop leader based out of beautiful Wilmington, NC.
She co-founded OneWorldSeen in 2021 and co-published its photo zine, CubaSeen. Jennifer is a patient educator who has co-instructed with Santa Fe Workshops,and National Geographic Expeditions. Among her many other photography-related endeavors, she has traveled extensively, teaching workshops in Cuba, Iraq, Turkey, Morocco, India, Romania, Spain, Mexico, Japan and India.
She has worked most extensively across the island of Cuba. During over sixty visits to the island, she’s experienced the friendly generosity of a people always willing to share conversation and a cup of coffee. She has come to understand that to be Cuban is to greet adversity with ingenuity, patience and humor. Life in Cuba is lived on the streets, and Jennifer is happiest amidst their constant motion and layered serendipity.
Website: jenniferspelman.com
Michael Amici
Instructor
Michael Amici’s photography captures human connection, rooted in his love for people and their stories. Now based in San Miguel de Allende, his work bridges photojournalism and fine art, prompting reflection on our shared humanity.
Michael also leads transformative photography workshops in India, Cuba, and Mexico, and guides tours in South Africa. As an educator he encourages students to move beyond technical skill, using their cameras for introspection and meaningful dialogue. His approach fosters empathy and cross-cultural understanding in emerging photographers.