a Day In the Life
May 22, 2026
Remember One Day
Friday, May 22, 2026
Somewhere in the world is an ordinary morning. Somewhere else, the day is already ending. At any moment, millions of people are quietly living through hours that feel too small to matter. These are the hours nobody photographs. They pass, and then they are gone; we remember almost none of them.
On Friday, May 22, over eighty photographers across the world each claimed a small piece of the day and photographed the honestly of the life around them. Everyone used their own local time, so while one person was photographing breakfast, another was already photographing the dark, and neither even knew.
What follows is one ordinary day, told in minutes, from four in the morning until just before midnight -- different countries, different weather, different lives, and all of it happening at once.
Nobody was trying to make anything beautiful, and that is exactly why it is.
Before you enter: This project was designed for a larger screen. You are welcome to look here on your phone, but for the full experience, with the whole day the way it was meant to be seen, please visit on a desktop or laptop when you can.
4:50am oregon coast, usa
iris hu | light by iris photography
4:00 am san Diego airport, California, USA
xixi wan | wanxixiphoto
4:50 AM Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA
Iris Hu | Light BY Iris Photography
4 am
5:14 AM Long island city, New York, USA
Lindsay Schroeder | Fabled Light Photography
5:20 AM Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA
Iris Hu | Light BY Iris Photography
5am
5:50 AM portland, Oregon, USA
kelli rad | kelli rad photo
We went to the beach at 5am, hoping to catch the sunrise. The sky stayed grey, the rain would not let up, and I felt genuinely let down.
Then a group of friends ran straight into the cold ocean, wide awake before the world was. No performance, no plan, just pure joy at an hour when most people are still dreaming.
I think that is the moment I actually came here for. Not the sunrise I imagined, but the one life handed me instead. Some mornings are not about golden light. They are about people who choose to feel alive anyway.
6:10 am Alameda, CAlifornia, USA (left image)
Carmen Dunham | Carmen Dunham photography
6:10 am kyoto, japan (right image)
kazuo nakayama
6:50 am centennial, Colorado, usa
Melanie knaster | melanier knaste rphotography
6:34 AM Jefferson, South Dakota, USA
Elizabeth Photomares | Elizabeth Photomares Photography
6:35 AM Austin Airport, Texas, USA
Josh Yang | JYangphoto
6am
6:50 am NEwbury Park, CAlifornia, usa
amy madson | amy madson photo
The one hour that belongs entirely to me — before parenting, before work, before all of it.
7am
7:10 am Saratoga Springs, Utah, USA
sachiyo stewart
7:20 chongqing, china
oring
7:40 River Forest, ILlinois, usa
Erin Leuschel-Perzov | photography by erin kelly
7:50 am lawrence, kansas, USA
allie clarke | allie clarke photo
8am
8:00 am raleigh, north carolina, USA
Dana | my weekend inspiration photography
A visual timeline from an early school morning. I hope these images reach down through our family generations. I want them to know that they should also embrace the simple moments because life is fleeting.
8:30am Fort Campbell, Kentucky, USA
karina cantu | karina cantu photography
8:35am vancouver, british columbia, canada
suzy leng
8:35am san mateo, california, USA
Jessyka Marques | jessy marques photos
8:45am Chesterfield, missouri, USA
Angie Menos | angie menos photo
9am
9:00 am Calabasas, california, USA
sofia alexander | sofi alexander photography
9:00 am shanghai, china
家和 jiahe
9:48 am vancouver, washington, usa
deb morlan | these wildlings
9:50 am vancouver, british columbia, canada
suzy leng
9:50 am Manresa, Catalonia, spain
Laura Santín | shot by nomaad
10am
10:15 am sugar city, Idaho, usa
Valeria Jashinsky | valsky photography
10:15 am beijing, china
tifa | lrf photo
10:00 am Blake Gardens, Kensington, California, USA
emma laine | emma laine photography
For lunch we decided to treat ourselves to some tacos at our favorite taco truck, which is owned by the most kind and hardworking Mexican immigrants.
10:10 - 10：30 am Frankfurt am Main, germany
童 | Photos by Tong
11am
We get so used to our daily lives that we stop realizing just how much life is actually in them.
The most ordinary things in the world.
The things we hardly ever think to photograph or consciously remember in the moment.
And yet, these are the very things that will mean the most to us one day. I am absolutely certain of that.
11:00 am La Spezia, italy
Valentina Battilani | vubifotografia
11:10 am somewhere in japan
atsumi sullivan
11:30 am katy, texas, usa
linsey harper | linsey harper photography
11:40 am portland, oregon, usa
Lauren LaBarre | Lauren LaBarre photography
12 pm
12:00 pm medford, massachusetts, usa
chenchen hensz | chenchen h photography
12:44 pm kyoto, japan
kazuo nakayama
12:30 pm Oklahoma, usa
traci baker | traci baker photographer
Third generation Oklahoma farmer.
12:45 pm tokyo, japan
kristen lisa | kristen lisa photography
12:45 pm san jose, california, usa
luckling00
1 pm
1:00 pm vancouver, british columbia, canada
Adelia | treasure moment photo
1:25 pm san francisco, california, usa
ashley kaplan | ashley kaplan photography
1:40 pm san jose, california, usa
luckling00
1:40 pm nashville, tennessee, usa
morgan myer | morgan myer photos
1:00 pm tulum, mexico
josh yang | j yang photo
2 pm
2:00 pm Bandera, Texas, usa
Laura Tannenbaum | ohtannenbaum photos
2:10 pm Torquay, Victoria, Australia
Kristen TMacDonald | Bobby Dazzler Photography
2:10 pm Raleigh, north carolina, usa
Devin Desjarlais | devin desjarlais photo
2:57 pm mianyang, sichuan, china
郭成 ｜ storylistener
2:50 pm alaska, usa
amber caires | amber vision photo
3 pm
3:00 pm beijing, china
nicole 生活家
3:15 pm portland, oregon, usa
iris hu | light by iris photography
3:30 pm Fort Collins, COlorado, usa
sarah cornish | myfourhens
3:30 pm Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Belinda Dorman | Belinda Dorman photos and films
3:42 pm Los Gatos, california, usa
chunlei deng | lei d photography
3:50 pm denver, colorado usa
Jessie Santala | J Santala photography
Lost teeth and baby’s first popsicles.
Ordinary moments that become magic because we took the time to commit them to memory.
3:10 pm san diego, california, USA
chelsea maras | chelseamarasphoto
4 pm
4:00 pm somewhere in japan
atsumi sullivan
4:20 pm Morristown, New jersey, usa
kristin carlson| inspired thyme imagery
4:20 pm Santa Monica, California, usa
Samantha Okazaki | Samantha Okazaki Photography
4:30 pm a road trip between Wall Drug and Custer South Dakota, usa
Kamie Wittrock | Kamie Wittrock photo
4:44 pm milwaukee, wisconsin, usa
Kari Fellabaum | karirosemariephotography
On our way home, the kids always ask if we can stop by Dad's work. They look forward to those few minutes together before we all head home. Every work day, he arrives home with dirty hands, tired from a long day, but he always makes room for us. He cooks dinner, and we gather around the table as a family. We slow down, share a meal, and have conversations that matter.
Because that's what's important.
5:00 pm singapore
小凡 xiaofan
5pm
5:00 pm Charlotte， north carolina, usa
Brittany Porter ｜ Brittany Porter photography
5:30 pm Marblehead, massachusetts, usa
Hayley Martin | hmartin photo
5:30 pm san mateo, california, usa
Jessky Marques | jessymarquesphotos
5:27 pm Peachtree City, Georgia, usa
Danielle Pacho Tejada
Here’s beauty in the in-between. Those moments untold, unscripted, unfiltered. There - if you pause, slow down - just a beat - you’ll find a story waiting to unfold - raw, moving, with hearts full.
5:10 pm cleveland, ohio, usa
julie white ｜ jules white photography
6pm
6:00 pm Lochiel, Southland Region, New Zealand
Hannah | Fable and Grain photo
6:15 pm Rotterdam, netherlands
sitong | daily frame photo
6:20 pm missloula, montana, usa
leahzawadzki
6:20 pm kyoto, japan
Kazuo Nakayama
6:39 pm Durham, North carolina, usa
cornell watson
6:50 pm shanghai, china
袁嘉亮 | uncle fisher
6:40 pm alaska, usa
amber caires | amber vision photo
7pm
7:09 pm Forest Hills, New York, usa
Anastasia Karnoupakis | anastasia k photography
7:11 pm brussels, belgium
karen hilmersson
7:15 pm littleton, colorado, usa
Maggie Theis | maggie theis photography
7:30 pm san Berkeley, CAlifornia, usa
Laura Jaeger | Laura Jaeger photography
7:30 pm Whidbey Island Clinton, Washington
jackleen Leed | jackie wildkin wandering
7:34 pm Mantua, new jersey, usa
megan dalsey | megan dalsey photography
7:51 pm san jose, california, usa
shirley hu | hux works
7:55 pm Manresa, Catalonia, spain
Laura Santín | shot by nomaad
8pm
8:00 pm shenzheng, china
刘畅 | 刘畅 Clem-
8:15 pm luzhen, chengdu, china
卿瑶 | qingyao photography
8:15 pm Washougal, washington, usa
ayumi fischer | lion and oak photography
8:30 pm Grand Rapids, Minnesota, usa
sarahc swanson | sarahc swanson photography
8:20 pm Vitoria Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
maihum melendez | maihum fotografia
8:45 pm vancouver, washington, usa
summer hughes | summer hughes photo
8:50 pm shunde, guangdong, china
brenda chan | Brenda Chan Photography
9pm
9:00 pm seattle, washington, USA
katie choe | feel by katie
Folding laundry after the girls are asleep.Two kids, mid-divorce, and this small ritual of putting things in order has somehow become the quietest, most peachful part of my evening.
9:15 pm Montreal, Quebec, Canada
celina bailey
9:45 pm portland, oregon, usa
kelly wild | June Lion Photography
9:30 pm Nederland, Colorado, USA
whitney Devoto | devoto photo
10pm
10:00 pm Sydney, austrilia
stacey xiao | light by xiao
10:30 pm lake oswego, oregon
annilee Durfey | annilee photography
11pm
11:00 pm lake chongqing, china
盲蝶 mangdie
11:10 pm brooklyn, new york, usa
Sonja Malic | sonja malic photography
11:30 pm Leiden, Netherlands
Julia Tskh | julia photo
In a tent under the stars, you suddenly realize the scale of everything: how tiny you are and how absolutely huge the universe is. And it no longer matters where exactly on Earth you find yourself.
photo by kelly wild
One last look before the dark.
Goodnight, and thank you for staying until the end.
And just like that, the day was gone.
None of it was extraordinary -- a quiet kitchen, a familiar drive, a sleeping child, a darkened window. These are the kinds of hours we let pass without a second thought, certain there will always be more of them.
But this exact day will never happen again-- the light, the people, the small ordinary life happening in eighty places at once. All of it belonged only to Friday, May 22, 2026.
Now it is a time capsule, the images allowing us to hold it, to keep it long after we have forgotten we ever lived it.
Thank you to every photographer who gave an hour of their day to this. And thank you for looking, all the way to the end.
Until the next ordinary day,
Iris
