Every moment matters: Lessons from Minutiae

How a photography app designed for minimal use had a big impact on my life

At Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Plum Village, a Buddhist monk rings a bell at intervals—a simple chime meant to halt your thoughts and bring you back to awareness. Over the past 2½ years, Minutiae—an interactive art project—has done the same for me, prompting me to capture the present with a photo, and reflect on the past.

This is an article about why I love the project, totally unsponsored. Let’s dive in!

What is Minutiae?

Minutiae is an app that does exactly one thing: once every 24 hours, at a random minute, it asks you to take a photograph. There are 1,440 minutes in a day, so the goal is 1,440 shots. After roughly four years, you end up with an archive of ‘in-between moments,’ as artist Martin Adolfsson calls them. When you finish, you can even order a printed book (or poster!) that collects all the photos you’ve taken into a chronicle of memories. It’s kind of a way to engage in contemporary time travel.

Here’s an example of one photo I recently took just after finishing a run.

Except for the photo, location, and time, there’s nothing else—demonstrating the app’s minimalist ethos.

Minutiae is where minimalism meets meaning

In a world where apps demand your attention 24/7, Minutiae offers a reprieve.

From the Minutiae homepage.

You spend less than a minute inside it each day, yet you’re building toward a four-year commitment—and a tangible record of time well noticed. Those snapshots are unplanned windows: a half-made coffee, a stray beam of light, and yes, your computer or office workspace. If you sleep through a prompt, it’s simply lost—yet the longer timeline reminds you that small, consistent acts yield profound results.

Here’s a zoomed in snapshot of some of my moments. From runs to cafe visits to work to time in a music studio, there’s a diverse set of moments and memories.

A reminder that every moment matters

What’s most profound about Minutiae is that it gently reminds us that every moment matters. Each moment has meaning, and our lives are worth being fully present for. It encourages you to appreciate the now, the fleeting nature of life, and the beauty in simplicity.

Minutiae is surprisingly Buddhist

Minutiae reminds you that each moment happens only once. If you miss a moment, you don’t get to redo the photograph. It’s simply gone. This connects to a core principle of Buddhism: the understanding that life is transient and impermanent. Each moment is fleeting, and like the bell at Plum Village, Minutiae calls you back to awareness, teaching that time is precious and transitory.

Silently connecting across the world

Remember when I said that the only thing Minutiae does is ask you to take a photo? That was kind of a lie. The otherthing it does—albeit only for a single minute, right after you take your photo—is pair you with a total stranger from around the world. Briefly, you can see their photographs, providing a window into the life of someone you’ll almost certainly never meet.

Someone with a cute dog I was matched with recently!

It’s incredible to see the daily moments of someone living in Taipei, or Nigeria, or Russia, or somewhere I’ve never been in the United States. These brief glimpses into their lives remind me that while no two lives are the same—and some people live very different lives—in our daily moments, people are often more similar than different.

One touching moment was seeing the photographs from someone in a richly ornate and beautiful house in Saudi Arabia. Since all the images were from inside the house, it appeared to be the account of a woman chronicling her life, which seemed both extremely luxurious and somewhat restricted.

A poster available from the Minutiae website!

You see such a wide scope of human life, with some people having every second photo in a different city or country, while others have almost every photo in the same place. Perhaps 10% of people I match with have almost all of their photographs of watching television or playing video games, which is interesting simply as a reminder some people really consume so much media.

Martin, my girlfriend, and I, all taking our Minutiae photos while on a video call.

Ultimately, I think it’s the perfect combination of digital and analog.

Minutiae merges the digital and analog beautifully, offering a simple, almost meditative way to connect to the present, while leaving you with a physical artifact—a book of memories. It’s not just about the app or the photos; it’s about how it helps you see the world differently.

It’s also kind of even more Apple than Apple. If Steve Jobs were alive, I bet he would be a Minutiae user.

And for me, Minutiae always gives me something to look forward to each day—the act of capturing a moment in time, and reminding myself that each day has something remarkable.

If you’ve made it this far, I’m thrilled to announce that Martin Adolfsson, the co-creator of Minutiae, is going to be the first guest on our video podcast, with our interview dropping very soon!

Please look out for this tomorrow, and if you’re not already a Minutiae user, I really encourage you to support the project and try it out for yourself. It’s really one of those beautiful projects that brings me joy every time I use it.

Check out Minutiae on the Apple App Store, Android, or their homepage. Check out co-founder Martin Adolfsson’s photography page and personal projects page!

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Poetry Culture explores ways to live a more creative and meaningful life. Poetry Culture was founded by Alexander Webb, a freelance writer for the New York Times and National Geographic. Alexander is also the founder of indie band Lonely Singles.

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