One of the problems that I have with photography is focusing on a specific subject. Unless I volunteer or am hired to photograph a concert or a specific group, I just carry my camera with me and take pictures of whatever catches my eye. When I travel or am out for a hike I never have trouble finding things to photograph, it’s just that I don’t go out with a predetermined subject.
I went to an exhibit once where all of the photographs were of ice shanties. The photographer decided that he wanted to capture that world in a series of images so he spent a winter (maybe more than one winter) photographing these mini winter homes of ice fishermen and women. I saw a book of photographs of fire hydrants. The photographer included a fire hydrant from each of the 50 states. I read an article about someone who is taking pictures of deer hunters. One local photographer gained attention by taking a picture of the same tree every day for a year.
I have a difficult time coming up with an idea for a project that documents something. Once I thought it could be interesting to travel around the state and photograph small-town and roadside taverns. Then I read about a book that had just been published about Wisconsin taverns. But, here’s the thing, there are subjects for which I have many photos, like shadows, trees, flowers, windows, musicians, National Parks, stairways and doorways. But none of these were projects. Does that matter? Is a collection of photographs of windows from around the world less interesting than photographs of fire hydrants just because I compiled them after the fact rather than as part of a specific project? Of course, the problem could be that I just don’t take very interesting pictures. Regardless of how you look at it, here are a couple of panes to ease my pain.
The gallery below contains many more paneful photos from Europe and the United States. I hope you have time to look through all of them.