26: Nerds

Culturicalus Nerdii, originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

Today I uncovered my inner nerd - not, although there is something of me in this image. After seeing so many repetitive 'silly walks' too close to the Mont Python original yesterday, I was glad that I had accidentally gone down a different road.

In a similar vein, someone wrote that they were staying in a hotel room, with no props, hence were frustrated they could not put together decent photographs. However, I think that their problem was not a lack of props but basic classicalism. It goes like this - you like taking pictures, and you look out for suitable things which would make good props. Once discovered, they become labelled 'props' in the mind, and we can use them in whatever way we feel in our photographs. However, a hotel room is full of 'hotel room things' like a bed, chair, mirror and such, and the chances are they are not what we would choose if we were looking for props.

What, though, if we were to rid ourselves of all sub-classes of object and instead just thought of everything to hand as 'things'. We exist in relation to whatever things surround us, our existence can be defined in terms of our relation to them. If we are always some form of 'we', and everything else is just 'things', then the only thing restricting us is our preconceptions of how we relate to the things. Dump that mind set, and then what you are left is the opportunity to photograph your present self in the present situation using whatever things are to hand at present. If you can achieve that, and it does require practice, then no where is frustrating because you always have to hand everything you need.