A couple of weeks ago I said that when I press the shutter I don’t feel the doubts, but after that the doubts sets in again. And maybe this kind of project with daily photography, editing, and processing strengthens this conflict too. The journey and act of doing makes this an art of doubt.
January 29, 2024
January 30, 2024
January 31, 2024
February 1, 2024
February 2, 2024
February 3, 2024
February 4, 2024
For the most part I love constrains, therefore I’ve mostly used camera’s with a fixed prime lens. Some constrains come from practicality, some come from the lack of better. Maybe I’m a conflicted person, I certainly do feel so. Even with all the constrains I wonder if I should change and try something differently in my photography. What I try do though is a continuously evolving thing that goes back and forth, and yet still kind of goes forward.
More than not I’m not fully thrilled with what I produce, but something within me says to keep continuing with my photography like many others do. And I keep coming back to those on similar paths with a more melancholic vision on life in general that echoes through in the photographs we make. Life is a continuous flow of conflicts, I guess.
January 22, 2024
January 23, 2024
January 24, 2024
January 25, 2024
January 26, 2024
January 27, 2024
January 28, 2024
I’ve some catching up to do with my postings. I just finished week 11 of my 366 projects, so it must be time to drop the images of week 3.
Week 3 was a colder and more winterly week with some snow and freezing conditions. Of this week I personally favour the second photograph where the A-style of the car divides the image into two smaller photographs. It is a more layered photograph with multiple juxtapositions.
January 15, 2024
January 16, 2024
January 17, 2024
January 18, 2024
January 19, 2024
January 20, 2024
January 21, 2024
I’ve some catching up to do with my project, so I try to speed it up and drop week 2 of this year’s project. Week 2 felt like a week searching, searching for what I want to photograph, searching for the meaning of this project, searching for the mood I want to convey.
This way of photographing has no strict project definition for me, except forcing me to get out and make more photographs. In the end though I know I will end up with a body of work that could be useful. To get better or at least remain at a certain level I can better make more photographs than think of all the things I could do and how I want to do it.
Studying the work of others certainly helps to get better at seeing, but in the end you can only make the translation to your own photography by doing it yourself. And what helps for me is restricting myself on the number of choices I can make.
Therefore I only photograph with cameras with a 28mm lens. Admittedly I sometimes long for a different focal length, preferably a 35mm lens. The 28mm lens however has a field of view I really do like. It adds a certain depth to an image without distorting lines.
Since a year my main camera has become a Leica Q, alias Phoeby. The image quality is stunning due to the sensor and lens, but I still try to find out how I can make the images work for me. The sensor creates enormous RAW files that filled up my storage exponentially. And I still prefer the sketch look I always got from my small sensor cameras in the past.
The RAW files remained quite intact while editing these, so I switched to jpegs and since then have been experimenting with my editing. Even though I post week 2 photographs here it took me even longer to find a way I kind of like.
Sometimes I still use my Ricoh GR from 2013. Even though Ricoh updated their range to the GR III currently, I still find my GR good enough except for a couple of dust spots on the sensor. And I still use my phone a lot for my photography, because the small sensor still translates best to the images I really like.
From this week I kind of like the January 10 image where the shadow figures on the wall add more human presence without directly seeing them. And it was one of the last photographs I was able to make near the local train station. Soon this entry to the train station will close when the new train station will be opened, but it is a location where I took a lot of pictures. It was exceptionally ugly and unfriendly place, but the light and bright colors gave a great backdrop to work with.
January 8, 2024
January 9, 2024
January 10, 2024
January 11, 2024
January 12, 2024
January 13, 2024
January 14, 2024
I’ve really neglected my blog for more than six months. Last July I suddenly stopped after I had a small accident and a couple of weeks recovering. After that I just was too busy with work. So when 2024 started I decided to commit myself to a 366 project, making and selecting photographs each and every day for this year.
I still admire those photographers that still keep blogging fanatically, especially Don Springer aka the Streetshooter keeps photographing and blogging. He names all his cameras and tries to bond with his cameras. For me cameras are mostly just tools that helps me to capture what I see and feel, but Don ups it a level and really wants to connects with his tools too. And since he used a lot more cameras than I have, respect for naming all of them.
I admit though that I actually named one of my current cameras. Her name is Phoebe, and while not the latest in terms of camera tech, it is without a doubt the best camera I’ve ever used. And best of all, it is still a camera with a 28mm lens, which is really my forte since late ’96.
While writing this I just finished day 48 and I will try to catch up on my blog in some form of another. Meanwhile I drop in the first seven photographs from the first week. I try to keep capturing things I find worth photographing.
January 1, 2024
January 2, 2024
January 3, 2024
January 4, 2024
January 5, 2024
January 6, 2024
January 7, 2024
Wouter Brandsma 