Not Pressing the Shutter

Lately I’ve been slow to shoot, and shooting very little. It’s been three months since I last got any film developed and scanned. The rolls I’ve finished are all sitting in the fridge — I keep thinking I’ll let a few more pile up, so sending them all at once saves a bit on shipping. What if I just left them there and, a year from now, took everything in at once? That might actually be kind of interesting.

Today I came across an announcement for a photo exhibition. It asked, “If you only had one day off a month, what would you photograph?” It was an exhibition of photos taken by migrant workers in Taiwan. I suppose I count as a migrant worker too — just the kind who gets two days off a week.

Every day after lunch, I still take my camera and go outside. I walk in whatever direction, without thinking about it. If I have forty minutes left, I walk twenty minutes out and spend twenty minutes walking back to the office; if I only have thirty, I walk fifteen out and fifteen back. But I almost never press the shutter. I’m just walking.

Today was my day off. In the afternoon I walked from home all the way to Osaka Castle Park, and back again. I didn’t press the shutter.