The first week was the most difficult and uncomfortable because I was not ready for all the "No's" that I'd receive or how many Spanish-only speakers that I'd encounter. I soon translated my pitch so that I'd be better prepared for speaking Español, although I could not always answer everyone's questions. Toward the end of the month I also added in a few family members, students and artist / colleagues.
One other fun thing about this year's NP is that a song was selected for each day, as in 2015, and a link to the song can be found under each photograph. This year the songs do not specifically relate to the daily photographs and instead have meaning related to November and specific days of November.
I recently e-mailed all the participants in this year's project the link to this website and a few have responded with favorable comments.
November 1 Victor
The Gorillaz- November has come. Victor was sitting outside the public library reading a book and did not mind at all participating. His willingness encouraged me to carry-on.
November 2 Eva
The date for each song was selected randomly and ccoincidentally, Thee Oh Sees appeared mysteriously in El Paso on Nov. 2.
Eva was sitting in a park downtown and was surprised that I asked her to participate. She said "Why do you want to photograph me? I am not a young, beautiful girl."
November 3 Lorin
Lorin, my daughter, volunteered to participate and the sun was nearly setting so...
November 4 Manuel
Manuel was a bus driver who had just ended his shift and was on his way home.
November 5 Colette and Paco (the Chihuahua)
Colette is holding Paco in her right hand. She works for an animal shelter and was waiting to meet a buyer to turn over the dog.
November 6 Gilberto
Photographing Gilberto, my yoga instructor, helped me to see that holding the ring up and looking through it at the sun is sort of an infinite gesture that means something different to everyone.
November 7 Ever
Ever was watching over a parking lot and was not going anywhere so he easily agreed to the distraction of having his photograph taken.
November 8 Andres
Andres suggested that I photograph him looking at me while he held up the ring. So from November 10 onward with one or two exceptions I also did an alternative view of each person, to recognize them for participating.
November 9 Maria
Maria, a college student, was waiting for a ride and was just hanging out when I asked to take her photograph.
November 10 Tony
Transglobal Underground- Radio Unfree Europe
Tony also felt it was important that I photograph him from the front too. It seems like a good idea.
November 11 John
I met John at White Sands National Park. He was waiting with his camera to photograph the sunset, which, by the way, was quite spectacular that evening.
November 12 Jhairo
Jhairo, a talented artist studying philosophy too, was one of my drawing students Fall semester 2016.
November 13 Mary Anna
Mary Anna was watching her kids, as was I, at a local park on this Sunday.
November 14 Mauro
Mauro spoke only Spanish so he and I couldn't communicate that well, but you get the idea, I was trying.
November 15 Jeremy (known as Bubba)
Jeremy asked me for a dollar to photograph him, so I said sure. He also asked me if I was doing a series about the homeless.
November 16 Jennifer
Jennifer is another talented artist that was glad to be part of this project. She is also the organizer/ coordinator of the music circle of which I am a part.
November 17 Antonio
November 18 Clemente
Clemente spoke only Spanish so he and I did not exchange many words, although he gladly let me photograph him.
November 19 Luis
I encountered Luis on this Saturday luckily because the sun was near setting again and time was running out.
November 20 Linda
Linda was walking by my house and happily held up the ring on this Sunday afternoon.
In some cases, I did not position myself correctly when photographing each day so the ring that Luisa is holding can, unfortunately, not be seen, even though it is there.
November 22 Felipe
Felipe was walking toward me on the middle of a block downtown and as we passed each other I asked him if he wanted to be part of a photography project.
Catherine was sitting under an awning near a church selling cellular phone service deals. I was thankful that she did not mind being photographed.
November 24 Jacob
Jacob, my son, actually turned out to be a good model on this day. He was eager to please surprisingly.
November 25 Adam
I met Adam at a trailhead near Cloudcroft, NM. He thought the November Project sounded like a cool project.
November 26 Kevin
Kevin, an evangelist and cancer survivor, was eager to participate in this project when I introduced it to him because he had recently lost his wedding ring and saw my asking him to participate as a sign that everything would be alright.
Eddie was working pulling weeds and did not mind my interruption at all, even though he seemed a little skeptical about what I was doing.
November 28 Pedro
Pedro was another person I encountered walking down the street and another who spoke only Spanish. I am thankful to everyone who puts up with my poor grasp of the language.
November 29 Ruben
Ruben is an artist who I've known for a few years and who I did a favor for, so I asked him to do a favor for me.
November 30 Keith
Keith was another bus driver on a break who luckily agreed to participate on the last few minutes of the last day of November 2016. These end of the day photographs are, in my opinion, some of the best because of the dramatic contrasts of shadows and light.
That's all folks! See ya next year.
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