Making space for art

Experimenting with flash

I’m the kind of person that resists structure and schedules in my life despite how much I need them. If something is on the calendar, I’m twice as likely to actually prioritize and accomplish it. Even things that should come naturally, things that I love and look forward to all week, need to be explicitly prioritized, otherwise on Friday I’ll look back at the free time I had and wonder why I didn’t do anything I really wanted to. Striking a balance between my excessive list of passions can be tricky, but often it just comes down to getting out of the house with my camera or a notebook and dedicating some time to it. This week was busy, but I’ve managed a few photo walks and some writing time, so we’re getting by.

On some recent walks I’ve experimented with using on-camera flash for a different look. Flash is one of those techniques I rarely use, mostly because I don’t like adding new variables into my photography. Too many options gives me analysis paralysis, where I worry and churn over decisions that ultimately don’t matter all that much. So removing choices like flash from the decision tree gets me to creating quicker. I find that using flash changes my process in a way that is hard to context switch away from. So on these walks I did the opposite: I turned the flash on and just left it there.

The biggest impact I think this had on my work was the type of subjects I was drawn towards. I targeted signs and other reflective metal surfaces so I could see the light bouncing around. It also balanced out backlit scenes, which served the blown out background look I’ve been trying out lately. Dramatic skies are a trope I’ve leaned heavily on in my work, and it’s nice to not worry about it for a change and see what else I can capture.

I take a lot of photos of street signs on my walks, and I have a hard time explaining why. In Madrid with the intricate painted signs this felt justified, but I do the same thing with standard run-of-the-mill street signs in my neighborhood. Speed limits, no parking, duck crossings, they all provide a pop of color and contrast in any scene. I suppose their juxtaposition with their environment is what draws me in, but honestly it feels pavlovian. I see a sign, I feel compelled to snap it nine times out of ten. Most of the shots are nothing, but some I like, and once again I can’t really explain why. Sometimes art doesn’t need an explanation. There isn’t an academic justification for it, or a poignant piece of social commentary. It just scratches an itch I didn’t know was there.

I often feel like I’m getting complacent in my work, that if I spend a week without doing something “big”, I’ll end up with a lot of repetitive, boring photos and nothing to write about. But I’ve found it doesn’t take much to find something new and intriguing. Walking down a street I usually skip, writing in a different cafe, reading a new book, or maybe just turning my camera’s flash on. I’m not going to produce a master-piece every week, but every week I put the work in is building towards the next photo or essay that I’m incredibly proud of. I just have to keep making space for it on my calendar.