Recent books and thoughts

This might get a little tangled and involve some scrolling up or down, and following some links that inform my thinking here.

The Notebook, A History of Thinking on Paper, by Roland Allen. I found this book from another blogger here. As an aside, a digression if you will, if you're a writer, a photographer, or thinking about making a book, you could do much worse than to navigate to the top of Dan's Shifter site and scroll to your heart's content. As he says, just one guy with one opinion, and you will be in no doubt of what those opinions are.

This was a fabulous read that came along at just the right time for me. The library had a hold list and it took a while for me to rise to the top of it, so the anticipation built up. One of the things that nearly all creative people have in common is they carry around a notebook and use it often. Really often. They might use it differently, but they use it. We think of paper and pencil or pen as being old fashioned now, but it was really quite revolutionary, and is still transformative. At the least it lets you think about what you thought, which is nearly impossible for most people without making notes. Going back through the notes, and connecting them up with other things can produce unexpected results.

One example is Both Sides Now by Ari Jaaksi. You can find a previous post about it  here, along other books and images and notes. The notes he took during his working career in the software industry are matched up with photographs from a variety of times and places. I'm quite sure such a project was the furthest thing from his mind when taking the notes. (You can read a review here, and buy it here. Or come visit and I'll let you browse my copy.) 

We think we'll remember, but we don't. I've often made notes tapping away like mad on a laptop, and the blogging could be considered a form of note taking or diary, but it's not the same as writing. There's lots of research that says taking notes by hand is much better for memory and comprehension than taking notes by typing. Part of it is that moving a pen slows us down, and makes us think. There's something about doing the actual handwriting that ties the memory to the words on the page.

I have periodically found old notebooks tucked away in a drawer. Mostly they are work related, capturing bits of SQL, or meeting notes, or deliverables. Some are random burble about what I was thinking at the time.

I had started taking photography related notes, especially for the film work, but let's just say I'm a bit erratic. Now I'm inspired to get more regular. See more below.

Who We Are, Four questions for a life and a nation by Murray Sinclair cc Mazina Giizhik. I've only read about half of it, and it's fascinating. A great read for Canadians, helping us understand how the story of Canada as taught to most of us in school is incomplete and misleading at best, and in many places has been racist and genocidal.

The Official Picture, by Carol Payne.

I've only browsed through this, not actually read it yet, but even what little I've seen totally intrigues me. There's burble about the National Film Board still photography division, but I'm interested in the actual photos. Ordinary people doing ordinary things that become extraordinary in telling a story of Canada. And yes, referencing Sinclair, there are blemishes on that story. I may blog more about this after reading.

The most recent page of my film notebook, for what it's worth. This illustrates one of the problems in keeping a notebook. I can barely read my own writing at it's neatest, and what you see below is extremely neat by my standards. I once worked with a young woman who had amazingly neat copperplate handwriting, and it was fast. She could take notes almost quicker than me typing, and I can type pretty quickly. I usually print if legibility is important. Still, I've been going back through it and a similar notebook to glean what learnings I can as I think about next year.

I'm thinking over something Sean applies to his work, that there are projects and practice. Now, in my mind practice is a complicated word and I think a discussion to explore that is best had over beer. But many photographers talk about intentional photographs, and I'm thinking seriously about what a project for next year might look like. An intentional project, where I assign myself something. Dan Milnor (see above) in some of his posts talks about being assigned to go get photos of some newsworthy event, and the consequences of failure. There are no consequences for me, other than spending some time and money to buy film, developer, and perhaps photo paper. I figure at worst I will not get the results I hope for, or nothing worth sharing. Mostly likely I'll have fun and learn something along the way. I doubt that it will bring me fame and fortune.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NB)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

New Brunswick

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

Flower

Landscape

Dino related