Browsing through my archives, a recurring subject of mine I hadn’t noticed jumped out of me: I take a lot of pictures of fences! Reflecting on this, I realized that fences are both psychologically and photographically intriguing for the same reasons. Pretty weird, but go with me on this one.
For one, they are a unique form of barrier in that most are also highly permeable. What percentage of a chain-link fence is simply air? It’s like a modern koan. Netting, chain, and so on also provide us with an infinite array of shadows with which to play.
The types of places that you’ll find a permeable barrier also lend themselves to introspection and imaging—think old cemeteries and monuments to moments of importance in history, ornate designs attracting delightfully chaotic invasions by bugs, rust, and so on.
In any case, I’d love to see your attempts at this challenge. A perfect snow-capped post? A geometric experiment? Post your photo to our Facebook page or post it on Instagram with #mymikescamera #halfweekhomework!
