When it’s negative twenty (or worse), I don’t negotiate with the weather.
I don’t “push through” a two-hour walk just to prove something. I treat days like this as part of the practice too—just a different kind of practice. The kind where I stay inside, make the site better, and tighten the system that holds my work together.
So I did a very 2026 thing: I asked ChatGPT to evaluate my website as if it were a gallery space—not just a blog.
The prompt was simple: If my website is the home base, does it actually behave like one?
What came back was a mix of encouragement, blunt critique, and (thankfully) a handful of high-leverage fixes I can knock out in a few days. This post is my action plan.
I’m also intentionally ignoring anything under /TMI/* for this exercise. That section serves a different purpose, and I don’t want it muddying the navigation decisions I’m making for the photography work.
What ChatGPT Told Me (Translated into plain English)
1) My homepage behaves like a gallery wall, not a front desk
Right now the homepage drops you into work quickly—which is good—but it doesn’t do enough orientation first.
In a real gallery, nobody walks in and gets shoved into the back room. You get a lobby. A quick sense of what the exhibit is, where to start, and why you should care.
The fix isn’t “make it more marketing.”
The fix is: make it easier for someone new to understand what I’m doing in 10 seconds.
2) My project system is slightly out of sync
This one matters because projects are the spine of the whole “home base” idea.
ChatGPT flagged that some project labels/project pages/project descriptions don’t fully align. Even if the work is strong, inconsistent signage makes the building feel messy.
If a visitor can’t trust the map, they stop walking.
3) My navigation changes depending on where you are
This is subtle, but it’s real.
A consistent menu is the same as consistent hallway signs in a gallery. If the navigation changes as you move between sections, the site feels less intentional—even if the content is good.
4) Small credibility leaks exist (typos, naming inconsistencies, fragile pages)
This is the unglamorous part, but it matters.
If I’m trying to be taken seriously—by viewers, by collaborators, by galleries, by future me—then the site needs to feel calm and coherent. Not perfect. Coherent.
The Next Few Days: My Indoor Action Plan
I’m treating this like a short self-assignment: small scope, clear outcomes, and done within a few days.
Day 1: Build the Lobby
Goal: Make the homepage function like a front desk without killing the vibe.
Tasks
- Add a short “Start Here” block near the top of the homepage:
- What I’m working on (Projects)
- My best work (Portfolio)
- My thinking/process (Blog)
- Add one sentence that clearly states my intent (not my life story). Something like:
- Toronto-based photographer documenting cities from the street upward.
- Keep the work grid (I want people to see photographs), but stop making the grid do the job of orientation.
Done looks like
- A first-time visitor can answer: “What kind of photographer is this?” without scrolling.
Day 2: Make Projects the Spine Again
Goal: Projects should read like a coherent set of bodies of work in progress—not a pile of ideas.
Tasks
- Audit the Projects overview page and each project page:
- Titles match
- Descriptions match
- The “status” is honest (active / on hold / experimental)
- For each active project page, add:
- A tight gallery or a few representative images
- A short project statement (5–10 lines)
- Three clear paths forward:
- Read the project posts
- See keepers
- See portfolio selects (if applicable)
Done looks like
- Projects feels like a curated wing of the gallery, not a dropdown menu.
Day 3: Fix the Signs and Sweep the Floors
Goal: Make the building feel consistent as you move through it.
Tasks
- Ensure the main navigation is the same everywhere (homepage, blog, portfolio pages, category pages).
- Fix obvious typos and “credibility leaks” (things that make people hesitate).
- Normalize naming where it’s inconsistent (small things add up fast).
- Click-test the major routes:
- Home → Projects → Project page → related blog post
- Home → Portfolio → Keepers
- Blog → Category → related posts
Done looks like
- The site feels predictable in a good way.
The Point of All This
I’m not doing this to impress Google.
I’m doing this because I want the website to feel like a place where my work lives that feels deliberate to the viewer—a space with intention, coherence, and a clear path from curiosity to commitment.
A cold day isn’t a dead day. Sometimes it’s a build day.
And if I keep doing enough build days, the warm days get better too—because when I come home with new photographs, I already know exactly where they belong.