A pocket-sized boost for my creativity
Last year, while on vacation in Austria, I fell and broke my wrist. Don’t ask how, I will just say as much: Always tie your shoes first before you start walking. And as luck will have it, it was my dominant hand. I ended up having my arm in a cast for six long weeks.
While I learned how to do all sorts of things with my left hand quickly, holding a camera and taking photos wasn’t one of them. The first problem was the weight of the cameras I own. They are way too heavy to hold with just one hand and the other hindrance was, they are just not made to be used with the left hand, because all of the buttons and the grip to hold the camera are on the right side.
So, here I was: Six weeks, with a lot of time on my hands and no way to go out with my camera. Because this prospect wasn’t making me happy, I decided to get myself a used 35mm film camera. It was small, not too heavy and I could hold it in my left and push the shutter button with the index finger from my right hand. After these six weeks, I realized I really like to have a smaller camera for every day. The only problem I had with this specific camera was, that it wasn’t digital. While I like taking photos with my analog cameras for certain projects, I knew it wouldn’t be a camera I would use on my daily walks, because film and development have gotten way too expensive during the pandemic.
Why not use the phone to take photos, you might ask? The main reason for this is, that I usually don’t take my phone with me when I go for a walk. It is my time away from e-mail, phone calls and social media.
So, this is why - after some time of contemplation and research - a new camera moved in. It is so small, it fits in my pocket and is so lightweight, you almost don’t notice that you have it with you. Of course, it has its limitations compared to my full-frame DSLR camera with multiple lens options, but sometimes limitations can be a welcome challenge. I have only used it for a few days yet, but I am pretty impressed by it already.
One feature this camera has is a black-and-white mode. I always struggle to internally convert the world in front of me into black-and-white. This function allows me to preview the photo in black-and-white on the display before pressing the shutter button. Maybe this will teach me a bit better how to see the world in black-and-white.
It also has a multi-exposure mode, which allows you to lay several photos on top of each other in-camera. This feature reminds me of the double exposures I used to create with my film cameras. And the best thing is, you can immediately see the results on the screen.
While these might not be the most exciting photos I ever took, I really enjoyed using the new camera to allow myself to play and experiment. This can be a great starting point to get inspiration and ideas for future projects or just a fun way to loosen up when I feel stuck in my creative process. I can’t wait to use it more and see where this will lead me or how it will serve me on my creative journey!
Thank you for being here and for reading this week’s newsletter.
Susanne
Three things worth sharing
I have been watching “The Andy Warhol Diaries” on Netflix the last few weeks. The series features the famous artist narrating his diary entries through the employment of Artificial Intelligence. The fact that you can hear his voice (or a voice that sounds like his) reading these diary entries makes it very special. I highly recommend to watch it (if you have Netflix).
Jefferey Saddoris wrote in his newsletter the other day about the Japanese composer Ruyichi Sakamoto. While I wasn’t familiar with the name, I recognized some of his songs later. If you like piano music, you might check out his music. I have been listening to it all week.
I just started reading the book “The Secret Lives Of Color” by Kassia St. Clair and love reading about the history of colors and the fascinating stories behind them, where they come from and how they influenced the history of humankind.
That’s it for this week. Feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts and get some feedback from you.
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Great thoughts Susan, I've done something similar recently but opted to use the phone for when I'm out and about. You've inspired me to track down a small camera for this purpose instead, thanks!
Hi - and sorry about your wrist! The older I get the more I appreciate small and light-weight. Smaller cameras have also restored some of the fun and spontaneity of photography for me. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.