I walked north with my camera for 36 minutes, because Lewis Chaplin sort of told me to.
Okay, so he didn't, but he indirectly did through this book that my brother-in-law gave to me.
The book is called The Photographer's Playbook and it features 307 "photography assignments, ideas, stories, and anecdotes from many of the world's most talented photographers and photography professionals." I have not read every single exercise or piece of advice, but from what I have seen so far, I think it makes a great resource for both students and teachers of photography. Browsing the collection is useful for when you experience photographer's block or when you feel camera shy. (I know the latter phrase is used for subjects, but I think photographers can feel shy behind the camera too.) Whether I am trying to capture street scenes or portraits, I find that I fall down this hole often where I lose confidence, motivation, and engagement. I'll likely talk about it again in a future post, because it's something that I'm trying to be better at dealing with, and I'm sure many creatives out there have felt this way too.
Back to the book; there are a number of assignments in it that I'm thinking of trying once I finish school, but many of them require a bigger time commitment or more deliberation, which is why I decided to give this simple one a shot first. The assignment is contributed by Lewis Chaplin, who is an artist, publisher, and book designer based in London, England. Here are his instructions:
Find the camera that you have owned the longest (your first ever, preferably). Put a roll of film in it.
Tape your watch to the camera and walk out of the house.
Head north.
Every time the second hand of your watch reaches the top, take a photograph.
Do not put the camera up to your eye.
Walk for thirty-six minutes (or twenty-four).
I undertook this assignment just yesterday actually, and I confess that I didn't quite complete it! However, I think that may have been the point of it. I walked out of my house with my Canon Rebel in hand at about 7:00 pm, and as directed, I headed north. I kept one eye on the time and the other on my surroundings, which was slightly stressful, but beneficial too. I found that the time limit encouraged me to survey ahead and premeditate many of my scenes, but at the same time, it restricted me from some that I either passed before the next minute arrived or were too far away. What took away stress, surprisingly, was not looking through the viewfinder! In an odd way, it was liberating. Plus, it once again pushed me to visualize my image before pushing the shutter.
About halfway through, I started paying less and less attention to the time, because I was becoming too engaged with my surroundings, especially when I reached an area I had never explored before on foot. (I loved it so much, I've already planned to go back.) Before I knew it, I abandoned the exercise altogether, and it felt so rewarding. All in all, I recommend trying this exercise when you have time, because you can practice how well you focus on a task, work with a time limit, visualize an image before capture, and look ahead for approaching scenes. Lastly, you may get the chance to explore a place that's new to you, which I personally think is the biggest gift from this exercise.
I decided to share a mix of my images in the gallery: some shots I took while on the clock, and the latter are from when I did my own thing. I'm not sure if Lewis Chaplin would have wanted them edited, but I did for the sake of my OCD.
P.S.
The last two images are actually the same! I just rotated it, because I liked both perspectives and wanted to show the two cuties in the pizza box. If you look closely, there's even a third! Hehe. (If you don't know what I mean by cuties, look for faces! Here is an example of an old one on my personal Instagram account.)