So it occurred to me, enough with the pressure, that’s no fun. And the point of a stroll to shoot photos is the fun of it. So I decided to take it easy, slowly get back into photography, slowly get back into writing Small Walks, slowly observe my neighborhood. A great forcing function of this is my reliable side kick Kleine, my dog. He’s a great little dude, will just chug along for as long as we want to walk. He’ll take his time sniffing and enjoying the walk, so I embraced his pace and we set about puttered around.

This prompt was inspired by page 27 in the great book The Art of Noticing.

Prompt: Walk slowly

Take time to really soak up your surroundings. Look at whats around you, whats changed since the last time you walked by here? Are there little details if you look long enough? How does the immediate area change if you waited a second longer?

On your walks look for misplaced things, items out of place, things that are where they shouldn’t be

My last few weeks I’ve found a shocking number of keys, a phone alone on a street corner, bricks stacked up waiting to go somewhere, and a gaggle of balloons caught going off course.

This felt like a perfect assignment for getting back into the swing of Small Walks. You see workarounds everywhere and once you’ve calibrated your eyes to them it’s hard to miss.

Look for workarounds

During your small walks this week look for little workarounds, hacks, and fixes in your surroundings. I spotted things such as a fence fixed with a window screen, cones on-top of cars to avoid tickets, written signs to fix address confusion, and lightbulbs wired to new power conduit to test the power.

Rest takes many forms, it can sleeping in some, lazy evenings on the sofa, long afternoons at a coffee shop, or a leisurely stroll.

Look for moments of rest

During the last two weeks I was looking for moments of rest. When taking photos I gravitate towards inanimate objects so I looked for objects in a state of rest. A bundle of cables not yet uncoiled, a truck with too many tow numbers, a piece of fence slacking off on the job, or a row of glasses taking a break after a round of drinks, even a skeleton waiting for a drive somewhere.

So while taking breaks from the kitchen and walking around the neighborhood I started to think about what else is in plentiful amounts.

Look for abundance

During this prompt I found dense patches of bubbles, bundles of cables, stacks of metal sheeting, and recurring letters.

But there are frames in everyday life. Frames that isolate parts of life and highlight details and subjects. What if we paid more attention to these frames and saw the composition they create?

Find frames during your walk.

I found frames in the slats of a fence, holes in fencing, and open doors. More interesting frames came from slits of light between building, blocking out everything but someone passing through.

I had been following a familiar walking routine and still finding interesting elements of the walk. Either it was walking the pup around the same apartment complex, the normal route to the gym, the late night jaunt down long the Navy Yard, on each of these routines I’d still found new details and changes.

And so I shifted the prompt…

Follow your normal routine and see whats changed since the last lap.

Take the same route to the office, after work decompression scroll, or dog walk path. While walking, slow down a bit, and really pay attention to the small changes. I noticed new graffiti, new angles of colors, downed trees, and minute stickers.

"The child sees everything in a state of newness; he is always drunk”, Baudelaire wrote. Nothing more resembles what we call inspiration than the delight with which a small child absorbs form and colour; this is the "genius of childhood”” — Rob Walker

Keeping this in mind I set out to find the color orange throughout NYC. Its Halloween season so orange was plentiful but I wanted to find the more obsucure and weird instances of orange. After a day of reminding myself to look for orange it quickly became something I saw everywhere. Small traces of orange paint, warning stickers, traffic cones, discarded bags, food, etc.

Color became a small reminder throughout a walk to not zone out, but zoom in and observe the details of the space around me.

This week pick a color and keep an eye out for it.

Challenge yourself by picking something unusual like purple or neon! Or pick something abundant and slow down your pace to suck up as much of that color as possible, like green while walking through a park.

Searching for orange

I started writing Small Walks to kick myself in the butt to get outside the house, grab a camera, slow down, and observe my neighborhood. Art of Noticing has a similar goal so for this reboot I’m borrowing a prompt from the book: Document the (seemingly) identical.

This prompt spoke to me in a particular way because of this passage. 

“My friend Dave Walker has a similar pastime. He takes pictures of telephone poles around New Orleans. Close-ups - details, really. Sometimes the image shows the texture of a pole, but sometimes a pole is riddled with staples or touched by an odd dab of paint” - Rob Walker, Art of Noticing

This stood out because I too have an obsession with taking pictures of light poles in the city. Each has its own patina of random graffiti, stickers, dents, chips, paint, etc. On any given block in the city you’ll find a series of poles each adorn with a completely different collection of details. 

This week, look for a series of things that at first glance would seem identical, but under closer inspection are each unique. For myself I went to a comfortable place and took pictures of the light poles in my neighborhood, some of the most interesting ones are below.

Some thought starters:

• Nature growing and expanding in different settings

• New hobbies you’re experimenting with

• The patina of well used tools, street corners, places, etc

• Places for self reflection

• Exploring new places and experiences

Keep an eye out for these moments this week and share your best shots here and they might get featured in the future.

Happy walking

Photos form the holidays related to Connection

Connection can mean many things:

• A moment with loved ones and close friends

• A shared meal or drink

• Bringing together different items in visual harmony

• Self reflection time to reconnect with oneself

• The synergy between yourself and nature

• The feeling of the ground under your feet as you wander

Keep an eye out for these moments this week and share your best shots here and they might get featured in the next letter.

Happy walking

Keepers from last week’s theme of Movement:

Movement

When we think movement:

• A passing car or bike

• Joggers or walkers out and about

• Wind blowing through the trees

• Rushing water

• The steady movements of tai chi or yoga

• The calm of an slow afternoon

Keep an eye out for these moments this week and share your best shots here and they might get featured in the next letter.

Happy walking folks

Discover shadows

Shadows can change an entire location multiple times a day. Returning to the same spot at sunrise, noon, golden hour, and sunset renders the entire environment totally different.

Keep in mind:

• High texture areas, come back when the light highlights those textures

• Grates, fences, grills, all cast amazing shadows

• Street intersections where tall buildings break up the ground with their monstrous shadows

• Dark places that hide things

• Natural settings where trees play with the ground

• Busy places where people breath live into their surrounds

Happy walking

Reflections

Reflections can be many things:

• Mirrors

• Puddles

• Store fronts

• Car windows

• Old memories

• Nostalgia

Let’s strive for a photo a day and spend time editing over the weekend. Make it real by posting somewhere. My photos will end up here → brodowski.photos. Any keepers please share in the comments.

Have a good walk