Blipfoto celebrates millionth image

Press release:
From 1 to 1 million Blipfoto pictures
Blipfoto.com, the photo sharing website that started out as the personal online photo journal of Edinburgh photographer and designer Joe Tree, has grown from one to one million pictures in two short years.  
The website invites anyone to join a community of thousands who document and share their daily lives with others around the globe.  The simple and addictive concept is based on uploading just one new photo - taken that very day - to create a journal entry.
The first ever image was taken by Joe Tree walking through leaves on his way to work in October 2004 and full-time mum, Karen Messenger, 28, from York uploaded the one millionth image - tiny toes of her 19 month daughter, Katie.
Designed on a rainy Sunday afternoon in October 2004, Joe made a very clear, minimal photo blog, with a tiny calendar, plus space for him to write about the picture and for others to add comments.  He kept it secret for a few weeks but the rhythm and discipline of taking a photo every day stuck with him. 

Friends and family wanted to create their own journals which is how Joe's personal project became Blipfoto.com in 2009.  Since then it has grown steadily – through word of mouth alone – into a worldwide phenomenon that connects people from all walks of life. Contributors now spread across 160 countries, and the website receives more than 13 million page views per month from 175,000 unique visitors.
Journal entries include pictures and stories of every day life; memorable moments: births, first steps, first days at school, engagements, marriages, illness, death; personal accounts of world events: floods in Australia, attacks on Kabul, earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, the uprising in Egypt; along with pictures captured of world leaders, racing drivers, movie stars and celebrities.  The list and connections goes on.
Says founder and CEO, Joe Tree, “All of life is on Blipfoto.  It’s a massive online photo album where people share their daily life with friends, family and make new online friends.  We have a few simple rules - when a picture is posted, it needs to have been taken on that day, and another is ‘be excellent to each other’.  It’s an amazing community that I have the great pleasure of being part of it.  
“On my own journal, I share a little piece of something that’s happened to me that day - if I happen to get a great picture or write something interesting, all the better.  But it’s the act of recording something that keeps me going, it’s just a great thing to look back on.”
‘Blippers’ include photography enthusiasts, mums, retirees, students, sea captains, chefs, foodies, fashionistas, journal keeps, birders, singers, authors, charity workers, creatives, media types and politicians.  
Karen Messenger signed up days before her daughter, Katie, was born in October 2009 with the intention of taking regular pictures to capture her newborn’s early development.
Previously a working photographer, Katie comments, “I can’t believe Katie’s ‘tiny toes’ picture which was the millionth image!  I started the journal for somewhere to put Katie’s baby pictures.  But its become her baby book - a diary of her life, achievements, all the little details that would otherwise be forgotten in the busyness of raising her and for Katie to look back on when she’s grown up and memories for me as her mum.
“I already really treasure her journal and she’s only 19 months old.  Doing a photo everyday is encouraging me to try to look for fresh perspectives, interesting angles, improve what I post and try and share and record for her just a bit of how much joy she brings to my life.”
Blipfoto is based in Edinburgh; won a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Website in 2009; works in partnership with Channel 4, National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh Festivals, Edinburgh’s Hogmany and Creative Scotland; and received first round funding in December 2010 to take it from a part-time to full-time venture.
Take a tour: www.blipfoto.com/tour