I want to follow-up on a previous post about photo projects with a post about seeing in threes.  In my previous post, I talked about how projects find me, either through chance or through some effort of my own.  I never set out to “do a project”, instead I take a lot of different images, I collect visual information, and then at some point in the future I may assemble them in to a photo project. A great example of this happened today and I wanted to share my experience and relate it back to my earlier thoughts on photo projects.

Recently I was going through my image catalog and landed on a folder from Arizona with images from early 2019.  I was there to lead a photo workshop in the Sonoran Desert, photographing wildflowers and landscapes, plus visits to the Barrios in Tucson for a different type of photography.  It was a great mix of subject matter for all the attendees, a little bit of everything for everyone.  The Barrios, when  you first think about it, doesn’t seem like a place you’d want to photograph.  But let me tell you, they are so amazing!  There are so many vibrant colors, shapes and textures throughout the neighborhoods, it’s like being in a technicolor candy store!  Plus the stories one could tell with the everyday life of living in the neighborhood.  Most folks came on this workshop for the wildflowers and cacti, but were overjoyed that we made a visit to the Barrios.

So two years later, I’m still mining images from this workshop from my library.  I’m not sure why I was drawn to look at this folder of images this week, but as I scanned through the collection, looking for any images that I haven’t processed yet that might need some attention, a photograph of 3 windows jumped out at me. I originally took this image because I liked the symmetry and the colors.  As I’ve said previously, I’m not all that concerned with the actual subject in my photographs, I’ll shoot just about anything.  What gives me creative energy is photographing light, shapes, textures and patterns.  This can happen with any type of subject.  So there I was in an alleyway photographing these three windows.

3 square windows set in a concrete wall in Arizona

I decided I wanted to process this image and get it out of my holding area and finish it up.  This image didn’t take a lot of processing time, so when I was done, I went back to my catalog to see if I could find anything else of interest.  Low and behold I found another image of 3 windows!  Immediately the lightbulb went off and I realized I have a bit of a theme going on here today.  When I shot these images, I didn’t set out with the express purpose of photographing windows or even photographing groups of 3 things with the intent to put it in a project.  I was in the moment photographing shapes and patterns that appealed to me, collecting images that I enjoyed.  So I went ahead an processed this second window image to go along with the first image.

3 square windows set in the side of a yellow wall in Arizona

At this point, I had recognized the theme and a title popped in to my head, Seeing In Threes.  This title is a bit of a spin off of a very popular series from Lenswork Magazine, called Seeing in Sixes and I have to give them credit for the inspiration. Basically it entails a collection of images around a single theme or style.  In my case here, it was all about 3 elements in the photograph.  Since I had a little more time available to explore my catalog, I thought I’d see if there were any other “3” images from Arizona.  I thought that this was a fun exercise to see if I could pull a collection together, based on a theme, from one folder/trip.  Sure enough, I found one more image that I felt fit with the first two, though it was a different subject.

Weathered wood with three rusty nails

What made this a fit for me was, besides the obvious of 3 rusty nails, is that how and where they are positioned in the frame, it felt very similar to the window images.  I immediately processed this image and put it alongside the other two images. I was full of creative energy at this point and thought to myself that I probably have many more images across my library consisting of 3 primary elements.  I’ve always followed some early advice, and psychological study, that humans respond to odd numbered things more so than even.  So I often look for elements in groups of 3 or 5.  My guess is I have a ton of images with 3 elements to add to this collection and I could probably fill a whole book of seeing in threes!

But wait…..I had a thought.  Wouldn’t it be cool, and even more true to the theme of seeing in threes, if I just kept todays effort to just three images.  Hmmmm,  yea, that would hold true to the theme and cement it nicely in place.  So before I could run off and collect all my “3” images, I stopped and reflected on what had just happened.

What I realized is exactly what I spoke about in my previous post about photo projects. 1) This project found me, I didn’t go looking for it in the field or even when I got home from the trip. It had to percolate and come out on its own time.  2) I had a collection of various images from one location and I worked creatively to pull them together in to a cohesive collection. 3) there are probably more collections possible from just this one folder of images 4) The 3 nails in wood image also can be added to my other photo project about Wood.

At this point, I have a choice whether to mine the rest of my photo catalog for more seeing in threes images or just let this stand alone by itself.  I think today, my decision is to let it sit for a while and see what the future might hold.  I may find some creative inspiration to expand the collection, or, I may not.  I won’t predict what might happen on this.  I will put these three images in a seeing in threes folder in my Projects folder and may revisit it in the future, or I may not.

I hope sharing this little project inspiration may help you to see some of the possibilities within your own image collection and how fun and unpredictable it can be to be open to photo projects, large or small.