The photographs in this book were taken during a one-year period from May 19, 2005 to May 19, 2006. They were all shot with a Bessa R2A rangefinder, a Carl Zeiss 35/2, and Fuji NPZ 800. It was my hope that by keeping the tools constant, I could reduce the conscious effort of photography until it became just another natural reaction to the visual world around me. Perhaps I succeeded too well, because my self-imposed deadline had passed for a while before I realized it.
One of the goals of the project was simply to carry the camera everywhere, and shoot anything remotely interesting to myself. Poring over the more than one thousand frames (admittedly not an incredibly large number in the end) revealed the usual snapshots of family and friends, but also a preoccupation with urban signage, graffiti, and color. It also brought to light a curious fascination with two-wheeled transportation, from broken-down bicycles to gleaming Vespa scooters.
I am constantly aware of the fact that many of these images are banal when stripped of context, but perhaps that is simply the unique relationship between the snapshot and the shooter - because when I look at these photographs I remember the streets around my home and workplace, the smile on my wife's face as we prepared for our wedding, and the curious beauty lurking just around the corner.