The Same Route Every Day
The goal of this short set of paragraphs is to explain why carrying a camera every day and letting the scene dictate your path can lead to new discoveries and a childlike sense of wonder.
As a creature of habit, and similar to one of the characters in The Weakerthans’ “One Great City!”, I typically follow the exact same route from Hankyu Okamoto Station to Konan University every day. This involves hanging a left out of the station, taking a right by the park, a left after the park, and following the hill up to the campus. I cross paths with the same people and generally nothing really catches my eye as far as a photographable moment is concerned. Although I do occasionally achieve photographic success by way of some interesting shadow or an umbrella approaching me at just the right angle.
The other day as I was about to take a left at my usual hang-a-left location I spotted a Charlie Brown t-shirt (see above). It seemed kind of interesting and I wanted to frame a shot and capture the essence of this not completely rare - but rare enough to warrant a photo - moment. But in order to get the shot I needed to proceed straight instead of left. In a split second decision, I headed straight, quickly adjusted my exposure, framed the shot the best I could, and snapped the shutter. Could I have lived without this shot? Indeed. But it turned out pretty decent and since I was on a new path, I had a chance to explore a neighborhood. I came across this most peculiar Mallard trailer resting atop an apartment building - as if it were placed there by accident, or by the orders of some Hollywood movie director. Or it flew up there as its name would suggest and decided that it would be a great place to land. Stranger things have likely happened. Anyway, I snapped a couple photos and continued on, reflecting in awe of just how odd it was to see this trailer suspended on top of this apartment building.
Moral of this short commuting story: Always keep your metaphorical camera at the ready. Keep the settings dialed to whatever light is happening at the moment. And if you see something, go for it. It may lead to all sorts of new discoveries, randomness, and could possibly even make your day that much brighter. But then again, I wonder what I missed on my normal route that morning? We can never and will never know.
