Photographers also like to celebrate! If you find Easter, Christmas or New Year’s Eve too boring or inappropriate to celebrate as a photographer, there are at least six other opportunities a year to celebrate photography appropriately or exuberantly. Here they are…
World Photo Day
On August 19, 1839, the French government bought the patent for the photography production process from the Frenchman Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (*1787, †1851) and donated it to the world as a gift. It is thanks to this fact that photography has been so widely used around the world for almost 200 years.
It is also thanks to this fact that the Indian teacher O.P. Sharma founded World Photo Day in 1988, which the Australian photographer Korske Ara has been promoting since 2009, making this date known as World Photography Day, and one year later the first “World Photo Day” was celebrated.
More about it at www.worldphotographyday.com.
National Selfie Day
In 2002, the word “selfie” appeared on the internet for the first time in Australia. The concept of self-portraits has been around in painting for a long time, with famous examples being those of van Gogh and Dürer. In photography, however, the phenomenon is relatively new and arose from the spread of mobile phones with cameras.
There is also a holiday for this photographic concept, which the American Rick Mc Neely created on June 21st as “National Selfie Day”.
Even Deutsche Bahn (DB) is celebrating Selfie Day, as can be seen on Facebook.
National Nature Photography Day
A few days before Selfie Day, there is another reason for photographers to celebrate: June 15 is National Nature Photography Day, which was proclaimed by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) in 2006.
All American Pet Photo Day
If you prefer to photograph your budgie, dachshund or goldfish, you can celebrate on July 11th, the “All American Pet Photo Day”. Little is known about the origin and history or the initiator, but of course you can still celebrate with your beloved two- or four-legged friends.
National Camera Day
The origin of the Camera Day on June 29th is also unknown, but it is celebrated in the USA as “National Camera Day”.
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day™
If you still haven’t found enough reasons to celebrate photography, you should remember the last Sunday in April. Since 2001, this has been “Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day™”.
Further information is available at pinholeday.org.