Sometimes, you have to break the rules.
There are quite a few rules when it comes to traditional photography (or any visual art, for that matter): don’t center your subject, don’t shoot into the sunlight, don’t crop off large portions of your image, don’t get so close that the viewer can’t tell what she or he is seeing. I could go on, but I won’t.
I broke all the rules here: every one of these photographs violates some standard of traditionally well composed work. For me, however, it’s okay…I’d rather create an interesting image than adhere to the guidelines at all times. Shooting the vintage cameras against the sun, cropping the flowers, and getting up close to the nose of a dog all gave me the chance to simply create…boundaries and rules are okay, but you need to feel free to break them.
So, this weekend, I’d like for everyone to write a poem without capitalizing any of the words, throw paint at a canvas instead of using a brush, and use the sidewalk chalk on something that is not actually a sidewalk. You’ll be glad you did.