5 pictures project

Every so often, I enjoy walking around with my camera to take a few photos of my immediate surroundings. I try not to set out with a specific composition in mind, rather I start snapping away at whatever captures my attention in the moment, be it some tiny detail that seems insignificant or a large-scale scene that spans the width of my field of vision.

It's interesting to go back and look at photos of familiar objects and places from a perspective that is one step removed from viewing them "live." The photos below are things that I see every day at work, but looking at a time-frozen image of the disaster that is my desktop or the way the stairs wind around the interior of the building removes me slightly from the immediate experience of those objects. And it causes me to speculate about why these are the things that stood out for me today and caught my attention. At the very least, it seems like a good exercise in stopping to take note of perspective.

Earlier today, I challenged a friend of mine who lives abroad to take photos of his surroundings and choose five of them that capture the essence of his day. I agreed to do the same. Below are five snapshots from the few moments this morning that I spent intentionally taking notice of the environment around me.

By the way, if any of you decide you would like to try this "5 pictures project," please let me know - I'd love to see what you come up with.