Disposable?

Every time I go to a wedding I make a point to grab up one of the disposable cameras off the tables and go to work. I don't take pictures of the people or the family, but I make photographs of what I find interesting at the event. When the camera is full, I place it back on the table and I am done. Since I never see how they turned out, I think of it as an active exercise of seeing.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed a wedding and the clients figured out which camera was mine and gave me the negatives. I tried to explain that wasn't what I wanted, but they insisted. I am glad they did! Looking over the images I love the idea of a time limit as well as a frame limit to the work. I basically had 27 shots and a few hours to make something happen.

I recently went to a lecture by Stephen Shore and he mentioned some book projects that he has been doing in which he photographs for a day and makes a book of that work, done and done. Between that idea and revisiting the American Surfaces book this week, I am really happy with these images.