Walking with a 35mm lens

I bought a used 35mm lens because it was the only one I could afford at the time. It turned out to be the lens I use most. The field of view is close to what I see when I am walking, which makes it a good companion for an afternoon without a plan.

A fixed focal length changes the way you move. With a zoom, you stand still and adjust the frame. With a prime, you adjust yourself. You step closer, step back, crouch, wait for someone to walk into the light. The constraint turns a walk into a series of small decisions.

The photographs are not really the point. Most of them are ordinary: a doorway, a bicycle, the corner of a building at the end of the day. The point is the attention. A camera is a reason to look at the same street you have walked down a hundred times.

I still miss plenty of frames. That is fine. The walk is the practice, and the photographs are the notes I bring back.