I am currently participating in Stephanie Levy’s Creative Courage e-course and this week, I’ve been on assignment “to be a tourist in my own town”. Whilst many of my “Pictures of Pittwater” blog posts include sketches, photographs and montages to illustrate my prose or poetry, in this project I wanted to pursue an idea I’ve had for some time. That is, to capture a longer moment, a still video or a moving photograph. As so much of where I live is surrounded by water, I thought it would be a nice to start with a series I’ve titled “A minute by the sea”.

By holding the frame whilst I record for a single minute, my intention is to create a kind of “plein air” photograph. I want to enable the viewer to observe the scene more closely as if they were actually there, allowing them to watch the movement and hear the sounds so as to make their own impression. To ensure they are as close to a tourist experience as possible, I’ve made sure these moving postcards are unplanned and unpredictable. As a result the videos are not directed or edited and are made with only my Richo Caplio digital camera (no tripod or sound equipment) in order to capture a minute of life as it happens … a “Vignette de la vie”.

The original inspiration for the series “minutes by the sea” came when I wrote this poem

“Sitting” by Suzi Poland

Where were you
today at 2,
while I was sitting by the sea?

I hope you were,
working hard,
rather than missing me.

And if you weren’t,
what were you doing,
pining after me?

For today at 2
all I could think of was you,
while sitting by the sea.

Suzi Poland 16.3.10

“Sitting” is now part of 420 Characters.