The photography prompt this week is: Echoes
Very simply, consider photos that have echoing patterns, lines, forms, or any other repeating elements.
That’s the gist of the visual side of things for this week and if you don’t care to learn an introspective practice for using your own photos as a kind of personal guide, you can skip the next sections and go right to the photos below from last week.
Photography for Self Awareness
As I sat down to write about “Echoes”, I am reminded how photography is a link from our outer world through images, to our inner world as reflected by what was happening in our life when each one of the photos was created.
These photo prompts encourage us to go back through archives to find images that fit the theme.
As you have likely experienced, this process can bring insights, both creatively, and emotionally, as you connect with memories from the time the photo was created.
This in itself is a worthy practice, but along with the theme of “Echoes”, I’d like to share with you a technique that I use which has been immensely helpful and healing in my life on many levels.
There are two key elements to this practice, the first is intentionality.
Start with a question in mind. Allow your own photos and experiences from the time when the photo was created to provide you an answer for greater understanding.
Example: “Please give me clarity on a moment of upset that took me by surprise.”
The second key element is random selection which invites serendipity or “synchronicity” for the Jungian enthusiasts out there.
There are many different ways to arrive on a random photo.
You could make use of the “Remember this Photo” feature on your phone, though I would suggest that without an “intentional” question, it is less effective.
Better to start with the question in mind, type it out or write it down if you’d like, and then take an active step to select the photo that serves as the response.
On my Aminus3 daily photo site, I can go to a dedicated page that selects a random photo for me from the thousands of images that I have posted over the years, but you can do something similar wherever you archive or post your images.
To get a random date in the range of all of your photos, you can ask a chat bot “Give me a random day between 2011 and today.” (pick your own start date)
From there, go to your image archive and select one photo for that date. You probably have many and can select the final image as you choose, like first in the folder, or move your mouse or finger up and down until you land on the one.
The method for image selection is less essential than the next part which is to reflect on the response.
Bread Crumbs and Clues
Once you get your image selection, you should already be experiencing some connections to your question. Look at the visual elements in the photo, how does it relate? Think about your memories from the time the image was created. How did you feel when you made that photo? What else was happening in your life in that period of time? Any and all personal associations are valid and worth consideration.
This works even better if you keep a journal of life events, interactions, dreams, or simply the more mundane aspects of your daily doings. By having some written notes of your life at a date or point in time, you can then correlate your photos from the day they were made.
Each one of these bits of information from the photos you created, to the experiences you documented are like “bread crumb clues” that guide you to your past, and then back to your current life in response to your query.
You don’t have to do it for big emotional or upsetting life events, it can be applied for creative ideation too. You can pose a question like: “I’m going to go out with my camera today, give me an idea of what to photograph”, then use a random method to select an image and see what guidance it provides.
A Personal Example
As I was writing this, I did a quick example with the following question:
“Please give me an image to help illustrate the example of this technique for this post”
For the sake of a random method anyone can use, I asked a chat bot to give me a random date between 2011 and now to correspond to posts on my Aminus3 daily photo archives. It gave me, April 11, 2016.
I went to the image that was posted on my site for that day, and I was joyfully surprised to see at first glance that the image that was posted fits in quite well with the literal idea for the “Echo” prompt.
Imagine out of 6000+ possible photos on my site, the one that came up has a visual theme of repeating footprints echoing across the frame, as well as an echo from my past of my own footprints with my since deceased dear doggy Stu.
Without going into detail, I can also say that looking back at my journal from that time 10 years ago, there was also a highly relevant connection to stuff going on in my present moment right down to working on a new app/medium for teaching these methods in an accessible way.
These photo synchronicity experiences happen to me all the time when I do this practice.
This is a foundation for the type of introspective photography I call “IndividUography.” My photos are a catalyst that take me back in time to when the photo was made (or posted on my daily image website) to create meaningful connections for me that relate to my present life experience.
Each of our photos are highly personal on many levels. When we approach our images in an intentional way, they provide rich information back to us, from one day ago to a decade, or more.
Thanks for sticking with me and let me know if this resonates for you in the comments.
Go find your own repeating elements and echoes, and don’t forget to share some images this week.
Substack community, please tag Aminus3 Photography (using “@ aminus3”) in Substack Notes to ensure we see your post.
Those of you posting on the Aminus3 community, add tag: am3-prompt-202632
Last Week’s Prompt Photos for “Discover”
Not only were there some incredible images shared for last weeks prompt, but some fantastic experiences and stories to go along with the photos.
Since many images also included a personal experience or insight, I will share a few of these in full. I wish I had a lot more space to share them all, but this has already been a lengthy post. On the positive, the format has sparked some exciting ideas for a longer form medium.
Sean Giorgianni wrote about how the act of taking a photo blew his mind.
SullyTravels observed the power in standing still.
Grand Central is built for movement. Thousands of people arrive, depart, and pass one another every hour. Most never notice the people around them.
But every now and then, someone chooses to stop.
While the station flowed around him, he stood perfectly still, lost in a moment that belonged only to him. The blur of the crowd wasn’t the subject—it became the backdrop, revealing the quiet that can exist even in one of the busiest places in the world.
Sometimes the strongest statement isn’t moving forward. Sometimes it’s simply standing still. ~SullyTravels
davidbrnyc photography reflects on a day of seeking out creative images where he didn’t have much success, until a meditative reset opened up a new possibility.
At a museum in Manhattan at the end of a day of photography. Feeling like I hadn’t gotten any really creative shots. My back was hurting, so I sat down in the lobby facing a low wall topped with textured glass. I meditated for a while, staring off into space, until I saw the photograph emerge in front of me. By “doing nothing “ I became open to discovery. ~ davidbrnyc
Martin Gisborne discovered an act of ephemeral creation on a Vancouver Island beach
From a distance I couldn’t tell what was happening, here, because Rathtrevor Beach is immense and Jason, the chap in the photo, was a long way away. But, sometimes, if we walk towards the unknown, we can discover something we were not expecting.
Jason is an artist who comes out to the beach, every once in a while to dig these patterns. It takes him most of the day to make them, and then they’re gone with the next high tide. What could be more pure than making ephemeral art? ~ Martin
Ron (solohiker) shares his positive experiences taking the road less (or never) traveled.
There are many areas I have discovered during my trips into the outdoors. I always have this urge of going off trail and exploring around. Bushwhacking must be in my blood. It’s tough going sometimes but I like the sense of exploration and finding areas where hardly anyone has gone. To get here, I took an established trail up to a certain point then made my way through the forest until I came upon these cliffs overlooking Buttle Lake. Although this photo was taken years ago, my sense of exploration hasn’t stopped....as long as I don’t get lost. Location: Buttle Lake, Strathcona Park ~ Ron
Thoughts and photos from Ravensong (bottom), along with a stunning starry image from Ralph Cooksey-Talbott (top) compliment each other well.
Renée Guillory (she/her) finds a more authentic Mardi Gras celebration while following the traces of her father’s roots.
David Concannon made a world class discovery (and photo) at the bottom of the ocean that connects us 100 years ago to the story of an Argentinian man’s last journey at sea.
Near the end of my first dive to the Titanic in July 2000, I discovered a large leather bag, an exceedingly rare find. We knew from previous recovery expeditions that leather bags protected their contents from deterioration, including clothing, currency, newspapers, post cards, coins and jewelry. None of these items can survive independently in this hostile environment.
We immediately recovered the bag, which opened slightly as it was lifted with the sub’s mechanical arm, revealing a layer of books. Miraculously, I could still read the print on the pages through my porthole.
Subsequent research revealed that the bag belonged to a second-class passenger named Edgar Samuel Andrew, a 17-year-old student from Argentina. Andrew boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England, not far from where he was attending school. Once on the ship, Andrew wrote a letter to his friend Josey Cowan on Titanic stationary lamenting that his transfer from another steamship to the Titanic required him to depart from England a week early, which meant he would miss his friend’s arrival in England:
“You figure, Josey, I am boarding the greatest steamship in the world, but I don’t really feel proud of it at all, right now I wish the Titanic were lying at the bottom of the ocean.”
The letter was posted from Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic made its first port call. Five days later, this young man got his wish. Both his bag and the Titanic were lying at the bottom of the ocean, and Andrew perished in the sinking. His body was never recovered. Now, at the beginning of a new century, I was returning his belongings to the surface. ~ David Concannon
See all the photos shared on Aminus3 for last week’s Discover prompt.
I am most grateful to the following fine people who are financially supporting these weekly prompts through your generous paid subscriptions:
Mark Farley’s wandering’s (photo, photo), SullyTravels (photo, photo, photo), William Brown JR (photo, photo), In-between petals (photo), Renée Guillory (she/her) (photo, photo), Sarah Best (photo), Mal Pronouns (photo), Sandra Schmidt (photo), George Gkigkis (photo), Renée Guillory (she/her) (photo), Laura Register (photo), SullyTravels (photo), EvieSutherland (photo, photo), Jeremy Butler (photo)
Additional Substack photos shared this week from:
Wira (photo), Diane Pulling (photo), Leigh Hanham 🇦🇺 (photo), Rhio9 (photo), Alan (photo), Cynthia Hartwig (photo), BH (photo), DaViD´82 (photo), Don Scott (photo), Kate Caddell (photo), SICK (photo), Linnea Hoover (photo), Framing-the-Story (photo), Hartley Thought Out (photo), Mark Clayton (photo), Alex Lawrence (photo), PJ (photo), Welsh Wanderer (D.J. Brown) (photo), Diary of Inspirations (photo), Sini (photo), Robyn de Burgh (photo), Mark Hayes 🇺🇸 (photo), Jason P. Odell 📷 (photo), Sally Naylor (photo), Guy Sneyers (photo), Jenny E (photo), scott norton (photo), Andy Moeck (photo), 🐝 Buzzy Johnson (photo), Liz (photo), adela bulic (photo), Marco14124808 (photo), Buster Voodoo (photo), Daniela D 🇷🇴 in 🇫🇮 (photo), Christian Wardlaw (photo), Gwendolyn Rector MacLeod (photo), Flavio Massignan (photo), Barbara Jaye Wilson (photo), Pat Wood (photo), Lauri Novak (photo), Vince (photo), Sean Giorgianni (photo), Ralph Cooksey-Talbott (photo), Jane DiCampo (photo), Martin Larkin (photo), NoOne (photo), John P. Wineberg (photo), Aly (photo), Renee (photo), Mark Caicedo (photo), Liz Cartwright (photo), Michel Hogan (photo), Ravensong (photo), Alessandro Manni (photo), Darren Goodsell (photo), Mike's Collection (photo), Phil Wahlbrink (photo), Derek in the RAW (photo), Martin Gisborne (photo), David Concannon (photo), davidbrnyc photography (photo), Jack Montgomery Writer (photo), Nicki Tibballs (photo), Heike (photo), David Najewicz (photo), Really Abstract (photo), one Picture one Story (photo), Mary Hone (photo), Paul Appleyard (photo), Jennifer Stix (photo), Kenneth Nelson (photo), Ros Schwartz (photo), Rafi (photo), Todd Takes Pictures (photo), Nina S. Nazir (photo), Oiseau Distrait (photo), Wild Lion*esses Pride by Jay (photo), Dave Kelly (photo), Lizz Bartlett (photo), Mary Margaret (photo)
For @Aminus3 Photography foto prompt “Echoes” - morning impressions
@Aminus3 Photography Prompt - Echoes
Light refraction through gin bottles and the resulting shadows