147 ☼ How to Notice the Beauty Around Your Home
Leica Q2 shots + GIVEAWAY of $150 gift certificate for the Moment shop
Dear friends,
In this week's letter, we explore the beauty in and around your home. Think of it as a guide to finding wonder in everyday life. Learn to appreciate the simple pleasures and hidden charms of your living space and neighborhood.
To all new subscribers: Welcome! Special thanks to Mike Chudley and The Focal Point for recommending me as a photographer to follow. It's a pleasure to share my work with you and de-mystify the process of creating books, projects, and more.
Also in this issue: an exciting giveaway in partnership with Moment! One lucky winner will receive a $150 gift certificate to their online photography shop.
All photographs in this issue were made using a Leica Q2, generously provided by MPB.com.
Process Movie Screening!
The current exhibition at WIHH Gallery, featuring the work of Sinna Nasseri. This is the ninth installment of the Process Projected series. For additional details on Sinna, his work, exhibition opening hours, and more, go here.
My friends Dan Rubin and Jahan Saber are hosting a full-day "Introduction to Large Format Photography" workshop in Vienna on July 20th. Learn all you need to know about 4×5 and 8×10 cameras, even if you've never shot film. Process subscribers get €50 off before June 7, order your ticket here.
How to Notice Beauty Around Your Home (And Why)
Today, we'll dive into the idea of finding beauty in the familiar spaces around us, right within or near our homes.
It's easy to get caught up in images from far-off destinations in our social media feeds and travel magazines. It’s easy to develop a fear of missing out on all those beautiful places, which can even demotivate us from picking up our cameras. You might ask yourself, "What's worth taking pictures of in my ordinary, familiar neighborhood?"
This happened to me! When I lived in one the most exciting cities in the world, New York City, I barely took pictures there, always prioritizing taking pictures elsewhere while on the road. I made the mistake of thinking that the things I saw every day weren't worth a second look. I confused the familiar with the boring.
What happens here is that we forget that there's an abundance of beauty in our everyday surroundings, if only we take the time to slow down and notice it.
I was cured of this condition when I was stuck in a suburb of Vancouver during the first five months of the pandemic. I had no choice but to slow down and get better at noticing. As you know, the body of work I made there eventually became my debut photo book, appropriately named "NOTICE".
I took that lesson and have run with it ever since. Now that I’m working on my upcoming photo book, "NOTICE Journal Volume One,"1 I discovered countless hidden gems in my previous Amsterdam neighborhood—beauty that wasn't hard to find but so easy to overlook.
For the past two weeks, I decided to apply the same principle to my current home and neighborhood and set aside a few minutes each day to seek out beauty and wonder in the everyday objects around me. Every image in this issue is a result of this decision.
With the help of a Leica Q2, provided by MPB, I went about my daily routines and found myself drawn to subtle moments of beauty: the morning sun attaching to dried flowers in the kitchen, reflections on the living room glass, or the way the compost-bound flowers looked melancholic and pretty on the backyard table. I spotted the sunlight reflecting off of my windows onto a neighbor's wall. I noticed the neighborhood cat napping in a sunlit corner and went over for a head scratch.
Walking around my neighborhood, I kept finding more and more beautiful moments. Searching for these small, positive things was like a pick-me-up for my mood. It helped me escape my usual routine and see the beauty in my surroundings, even on streets I walk down every day or when I was just out running errands.
The midday sun throwing hard shadows on construction sites, bicycles overgrown with weeds, and a self-portrait through fresh flowers. These experiences reminded me that beauty is everywhere, even with the chaos and turmoil in our world today.
I'm not suggesting that we turn a blind eye to the world's problems or avoid our own responsibilities. But, I believe that we can benefit from taking the time to appreciate the beauty and wonder in our immediate surroundings. These moments can serve as a source of renewal, perspective, and grounding. This in turn can help up show up for others and deal with the challenges we encounter in the world around us.
So, I invite you to join me in this journey of rediscovering the beauty in your everyday life. Reserve a few moments each day to explore your surroundings with fresh eyes and capture the stories that matter to you. Let's celebrate the simple joys and find wonder in the world we call home.
A Backyard Shoot
One more thing before we wrap up! When my friend Dee, an incredible dancer, stopped by for a visit, I couldn't resist setting up an impromptu photo shoot in my backyard studio. As you might know, the camera is equipped with a Summilux 28 mm f/1.7 ASPH lens, which wouldn’t be my first choice for portraits and dance sequences.
Despite initial reservations about the wide lens, I decided to give it a try—and I'm so glad I did! The camera handled the situation very well and I got some really fun shots.
To take things up a notch, I mounted a compact Fujifilm EF-X20 flash on top of the camera, and it proved to be the perfect pairing. The images gained an extra pop and Dee’s emotions and movements were perfectly frozen.
If you enjoyed this issue I’d love for you to share it with friends. Re-stacks help a lot! It’s that little 🔄 symbol at the start of the issue, or share to social with this button:
Next Week: Step 8 of making a photo book — Finalizing the design and thoughts on the cover.
Keep shooting and take good care of yourselves and others. <3
Wesley
PS Would you like to support Process? Please order my photo book "NOTICE". <3
Gear & Tools Used
Camera: All images were taken on a Leica Q2. Using the Leica Q2 has been a positive experience. It’s a bit bulky and heavy, and the raw files are so big that it nearly crashed my computer but the photos coming out of this thing are just really great. The colors pop, the lens has character, and it feels like a photographer’s camera. I didn’t get to show it off in this issue but the macro feature is impressive and a great bonus. Overall, the Leica Q2 exceeded my expectations. I would use this camera again given the opportunity.
Shout out to MPB.com, my go-to place to buy, sell, and trade used cameras and lenses. I love their service and am a paying customer. MPB caters to over 625,000 visual storytellers and provides a 6-month warranty. Thanks for the support, MPB! <3
Lab: All my analog work is developed and scanned by my friends at Carmencita Film Lab. They’re my favorite lab in the world. Use code “PROCESS” to get a free upgrade.
Process Giveaway
My pals over at Moment are back for a generous giveaway! One winner will receive a $150 gift card to buy whatever you wish including film, bags, a course, and more.
To enter this week’s giveaway answer the following question in the comments:
Q: What is your favorite photography related youtube channel or newsletter? (outside of Process, of course)
ENTER THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY before 11 a.m. EST on June 15th.
The winner will be randomly drawn. This giveaway is for Process subscribers only.
Can’t get enough Process? Browse the Process Archives.
In case you’re new here, I’m documenting the entire process of making this book and you can start that journey with Process 140 and go from there.
During a period of bad mental health the only thing that could get me to leaving my house was taking a walk with my camera, trying to capture the little details around my neighbourhood. It was the start of rediscovering wonder in life. It's nice to see someone else put the power of it into words.
My favourite photography youtube channels are Graincheck, Teo Crawford and Willem Verbeeck. I think they all have a soothing voice, living in a place that's visually quite different from the town I call home, and a optimistic enthusiasm and curiosity in common.
Totally agree with you. Slow down and see the beauty that surrounds us. Thanks.