A camera in my pocket
Not to be too repetitive, but I recently found myself with a new photo machine. Recently, I have been leaning into the idea of constantly carrying a camera. Taking photos with my phone has always felt wrong to me. I feel like they get lost forever, and they never quite look right. I also don’t like when a photo-capturing device is so full of technology that it tries to outsmart me. Which my phone certainly does.
The camera I am lucky enough to be using now as my everyday carry is a Ricoh GR IV Digital. It is an older camera, but it is spectacular. The sensor is smaller, the megapixels are lower, but for me, it is perfect. I have so much control over almost every facet of the camera, and it has a wonderful little flash.
Always having a camera in my pocket makes me feel so on it. I am constantly looking for frames. I used to only use film cameras in this way. But the freedom of digital lets me take more pictures I might typically skip. I look more closely at leaves, advertisements on walls, and trash. Who knew Green Day and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty could be such a beautiful visual colab.
As photographers, we have to look at things a little differently. The most exciting images could be of the most mundane things. Henri Cartier-Bresson was the master of turning the normal into something captivating. Even if the camera stays in my pocket, I am always on the lookout for anything I find interesting to look at. A smashed pumpkin under a parked car. A discarded Christmas tree. The cat statue tilted in an almost bodega cat manner among bundles of sage. All of these things brought me brief moments of excitement. They are slight blips in this pattern-filled world that speeds by so quickly.
Trees are magical and provide so many different “lewks.” From close up gnarled limbs looking like faces to looming entire bodies from below. They can be both so comforting and so intimidating all at once.
Sometimes you have to find your own excitement. And looking for the little things that are different is my favorite place to start. And go hug a tree, you never know what kind of mood that creature is in.
That’s all for now,
Aaron
