.August ‘26.

I stumbled across a meme mid-summer. It brought my attention to reflect on my youth. When we’re kids—even into our late teens—we went outside. Wake up, wide-eyed and bright, looking for something to do. As an adult I’ve noticed that instinct to wane and fade. Whether it’s due to a lack of energy from the daily grind or feeling overly content in your nest. Why leave when we have everything right here?

I recognized I needed to shift my state of mind, so my primary objective became to leave the nest as early as possible and only return when I needed to. Of course I still made time to rest when energy was low; but by simply getting out, I gave myself a point of departure. With camera in-hand as a secondary intention, it allowed me to find a sweet spot and shoot much more loose. Despite the ever-present humbling despair of I’m not capturing anything of value—the drive and discipline got me through 25 rolls > 900 frames. So the pile was high and I found myself to be quite happy with my results and what I captured.

I had been battling being too close, and stepping back. I noticed that stepping back, the frames weren’t speaking to me. I also started to find myself looking for quiet scenes, urban decay, and structures being engulfed in ivy. I began to find a sweet spot between close and far.

A personal take—I’m not overly fond of the massive Alex Webb induced frames. Although I find them pleasing to the eye, I find them to lack depth or emotion. This is not exclusive to Webb himself, his work is amazing; it’s directed to the carbon copies I see all over socials. That being said, it is something that pushes me to find meaning in frames and happenings—not in that beginner cliche of slowing down and everyday moments in-between. Just true emotion. I admit, I do also make room for eye candy in my own work and there is space for layers and nice photographs. But there is a balance, I like to mix it in when I can.

There is a quote a friend shared with me who has similar taste. That spoke to me and articulates a feeling I’ve always had within my own work.

“Don’t let your book be spoiled. By anything. Show that you have feeling, not that you know how to take photographs.”

‍ ‍— Koudelka

Is this conveyed below? Perhaps in some capacity and certainly not in every frame, but it is present in my mind when I’m culling with much more scrutiny. Call me MaCully Cullkin, because I went in on what I believe to be truly quality frames this month. Now there are about 175 below, but that is out of 900... roughly 20%. And it’s true to the format of the M35mm. When it comes to my next physical publication you bet it’ll be much more condensed and sequenced with meaning and depth. [In contrast to S.A.D. where I had to push my creative limits].

Continuing a touch further on the “show me feeling, not that you can take a nice picture” philosophy; this is what I find most challenging with scenes. A friend once told me “I don’t want to see a nice photograph—be unpredictable, I want to see what Scott sees.” The battle here with scenery seems to be framing up the clean composition, then scrapping it and really looking for something deeper. From experience, this happens most when I’m unsure about the frame or I let my subconscious take the wheel and just trust the gut on a seemingly throwaway frame. Finding the balance to marry and lean into this has been interesting. As it really is only visible afterward when going through the pile. Letting the pile speak to you, presenting what frames are loud and solo or quiet and complementary.

Lastly, this also extends to street… man walking through frame is just as cliche and tired as man walks through sliver of light. It’s a crutch we’re all guilty of and will be forever present in our piles, they are important to take, but gotta know when to cut them if they really don’t convey any emotion. Again, I could still be guilty of this below, but I am much more cognizant and did my best to cull. Not every frame will speak to everyone, and I will still be self-indulgent with frames I like, that’s my vision and my artistic integrity.

When I look back at my early work I see it everywhere. What I would suggest to anyone who reads this as a beginner is just to recognize the basic frames as soon as possible so you can look beyond that when you’re in the streets. That’s what Capa’s infamous getting closer quote means to me.

Let me know what you think, give me feedback, did I miss the mark? What did you enjoy, what did you hate? Tell me in person, or shoot me a DM.

@scott.recasens