Before You Begin
This exercise asks for no movement.
You don’t need to walk.
You don’t need to explore.
Choose a place you pass every day.
Somewhere familiar.
Somewhere unremarkable.
Bring your camera —
and leave your expectations behind.
This is about unlearning how you usually see.
The Exercise
Stand still.
Look at what you would normally dismiss.
The background.
The edges.
The spaces between things.
Avoid what immediately attracts you.
Avoid what feels “photographic.”
Instead, give your attention to what usually disappears from your awareness.
This is a mindful photography exercise
about softening visual habit.
When something quiet begins to hold your gaze —
not because it is beautiful,
but because it exists —
make one photograph.
Only one.
Then stop.
What This Is Really About
This exercise is about undoing habit.
We don’t see the world as it is —
we see what we have learned to notice.
By staying with what you normally ignore,
you soften those habits.
Photography becomes less about finding
and more about unlearning.
When You’re Done
Do not edit the image.
Do not crop it.
Later, when you look at it, ask:
- What did I usually overlook here?
- What changed when I stopped searching?
- Did familiarity become visible again?
The photograph is simply a trace of attention.
That is enough.