For a small town of only 20,000, Ypsilanti presents many faces and personalities. There are students, artists, young professionals, young families, the retired, entrepreneurs, politicians, preservationists and people of nearly every other stripe imaginable.

Few people understand this diversity better than than photographer Erica Hampton, who launched the Ypsi Project in January 2009 with a goal of shooting one portrait photograph of an Ypsilanti resident every day for a year.

Although Hampton left Ypsilanti last month after 14 years, the Ypsi project and the city played a role in her growth as an artist and person, she says. The effort also provided an opportunity for an up-close, personal look at the first place she called 'home'.

Hampton, 32, grew up an Army brat, moving regularly and never finding herself attached to any one place prior to taking up residence in Ypsilanti. Since then, it has been her town save a few years of living in Detroit while she attended Wayne State University.

But only Ypsilanti felt like home, Hampton says. In January 2009 she found herself at a point in life where college was concluding, but the path to steady employment had yet to show itself. So with time on her hands, she launched the Ypsi Project.

"I wanted to keep myself busy so I started it," she recalls. "I thought it would be good to do, to get out there and talk to people, because I’m kind of a hermit.”

The shoots were relatively quick. Hampton would ask people about themselves and snap away while they told their personal stories. Participants would also write down a few sentences or paragraphs describing themselves, and the photo and text went onto the Ypsi Project’s webpage.

“More often than not the pictures were just quick, or I just worked with what I had,” she said. “A lot of people are not models, and I didn’t have a lot of time to let them get comfortable.”

Early on, strangers Hampton approached on the street comprised the bulk of the Ypsi Project's subjects. But as more people wanted to become involved, the shoots evolved into longer sessions with multiple people at local coffee shops or other locations. Hampton began calling people she knew, and soon she was discovering the city's depth.

Among the more recognizable faces up on the Ypsi Project’s “wall” are VG Kids owner James Marks, Fly Art Center founder Ruth Marks, Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber, Friends of the Freighthouse Co-Chairwoman Bonnie Penet, local artist Chris Sandon and developer Stewart Beal.

But the site features just as many people who one wouldn’t likely recognized. For instance, the Domino's Pizza delivery man who brought food to one of her events.

“It sort of turned into this place to showcase the different people who do all these amazing things in Ypsilanti,” she says. “You don’t hear about the little people who do all these amazing things and I think I’ve managed to get a good sample of that. But no matter who they were, they were all “so nice and so welcoming."

By taking on an essentially sociological project documenting Ypsilanti, Hampton uncovered sides of her hometown she never knew existed, and some students connected only to EMU never really experience.

“That has been such a big thing to me, to meet such a big chunk of people form different areas of Ypsilanti,” she says. “The sense of community and how welcoming people are and how supportive people are of the projects and how involved people are in Ypsilanti. They don’t have one view - they are jacks of all trades and are involved in all different things in the community."

While the project afforded a fascinating, unique view of Ypsilanti, the community had its own affect on Hampton, who describes herself as shy and not one keen on "putting herself out there." The positive reaction to the project provided a huge boost to Hampton's confidence.

"To have so many people see what I was trying to get, and to have so many people say 'I know that person and Oh my God - that's him and that’s her,' On a personal level it has been so encouraging. Whatever I'm trying to do is working and getting through ... . The response that I've got has been amazing."

Her friend and classmate from EMU, Jami Carlson, joined to help with the Ypsi Project and the pair collaborated on two portrait and wedding photography ventures - We Will Shoot Your Face and Lucent Photography.

Although The Ypsi Project was a success, it didn't provide any extra paid work, which is in short supply in Michigan. Thus Hampton is headed to Los Angeles with her boyfriend for an internship with the Bui Brothers, a popular photography and cinematography company.

Earlier in the summer Hampton showcased her work at the XVG on Michigan Avenue, and her farewell came during a monthlong August exhibit at the Riverside Arts Center that concluded, fittingly, during the Heritage festival.

The final show was bittersweet.

“I just sent everybody an e-mail and told them I moved around a lot as a kid. I didn’t really ever become attached or settled in to one place. This is the longest time I’ve spent in one place and I’ve become attached and I think I’ll miss Ypsilanti. It was like ‘Oh, wait! I like you guys I don’t think I want to leave!' ”

Hampton is continuing to accept submissions for the Ypsi Project through her website. Visit her Flickr page for a complete slideshow of the Ypsi Project.

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. To reach the news desk, call 734-623-2530. For more Ypsilanti stories, visit our Ypsilanti page, www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti