This week in our seminar we were introduced to a piece of work by a author called Georges Perec. This work, titled An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, details Perec’s time in Paris, Sulplice Square. In this sixty page book, Perec notes down his observations of the world around him. Here is an extract to demonstrate his work.
A green Mehari
A baby in a carriage lets out a brief squawking. It looks like a bird: blue eyes, fixed, profoundly interested by what they take in.
A meter man with a bad cough puts a parking ticket on a green Morris.
Page 20.
I think that his work is really quite interesting as while it can seem mundane, it’s actually a really useful work to demonstrate how there’s something notable about, well, everything. What Perec describes in his book, in some detail, a lot of it I can imagine as photographs. I don’t believe this was Perec’s intention when creating the book, however I feel that it’s really helpful resource for helping photographers realise they can make a story out of everything.
We were then tasked with going away from the class and doing a similar task to Perec, noting down things that we saw. I decided to sit at the top of the Minerva building. I won’t copy the entire transcript, but here is an extract.
A boy sneezes as he comes up the stairs in a feminine way.
Another boy passes, however he does not sneeze.
Outside the large glass window, a group of students record something with a large camera, what I can only assume is a media project.
A cleaner passes frowning, but then smiles.
I found the task really interesting, and it again reinforced that idea that there is an image to taken in everything, and therefore a story to be told. I personally feel the text has helped me realise that photography can truly be about anything, be it as simple as something a green Mehari.