The Half Hour Assignment

In an earlier musing, I talked about the importance of being able to work quickly and efficiently. It is also important to slow down and see beyond the obvious.

One day when I was driving to one of my favorite locations in Midcoast Maine, I heard the voice in my head saying, “If you make another predictable landscape photograph, I will make you throw up on your camera bag.” Not wanting to have to clean up the bag, the first thing I did was to leave my camera bag in the car. I went down to the beach and sat for a while.

I saw many photographs that were “typical” Tillman images but I continued to wait to see this familiar area differently. I played in the sand. A little later I set the camera up off-kilter to make a landscape photograph with no horizon line. I made a lot of bad images that afternoon but at least they were not predictable. I even came up with one I liked.


My suggestion or assignment for you is this:

Find a subject that you are interested in, one that is different from your usual subject matter. If you normally work in the landscape, find a building. If you are a portrait photographer, work in the landscape. What is important is to find a subject matter that may be unfamiliar to you. Quickly determine how you would “normally” photograph it. Do it that way. Then put your camera aside and study the subject. Look at it closely for 30 minutes. Try to figure out exactly what it is in the subject that interests you. Why do you want to make this photograph? Try to put your finger on its essence for you as an artist. After a half hour of looking, make the photograph. Is it different from your original interpretation? Is it a new look for you?