A project focusing on 50mm photography with all photography shot at an aperture of F/1.8.

The concept was born in the summer of 2007. During this time I began to feel a need to recapture my “photographic spirit”. I had been progressing more towards landscape and seascape photography. This had led me to neglect other styles of photography that I had loved to photograph in the past.

When first starting out in photography, there had been a sense of naivety. I would shoot anything and everything around me without a thoughtful end result. Whilst learning the settings and functions of a camera, subjects that may have involved a leaf, a lost object, a pattern, a shadow, a texture had been put to one side. I decided to return to this frame of mind. However this time there would be rules applied. To only use a 50mm lens and an aperture of F/1.8 only.

Over time the project has grown to a significant size and has become a large body of work than I had ever intended. Projects such as my Lost and Found collection have branched out from this main body of work. There are trends and patterns that have emerged for the body of work and a growing maturity can be seen as the project has progressed. The likes of an introduction of street photography which involves a presence of human activity.

The project has progressed into a larger work of documentation of my life. It showcases countries and locations I have visited and interacted with since 2007.

A personal sense of nostalgia can be felt when I look back upon my earlier 50mm photography archives.

Why 50mm photography?

The project is shot with a Canon 50mm MK1 F/1.8 lens and a Canon 7D. It began with a Canon 400D and a MK2 lens.

Overtime I have found the 50mm F/1.8 lens to be the most creative and versatile lens within my kit. Using a prime lens is perfect for tight compositions. With an aperture of F/1.8 you are able to isolate specific subject matter. Along with the isolation, I find that blur and bokeh become an extremely interesting part of the image. To which can be just as important as the pin sharp subject matter.

This project was originally presented as a photoblog called ‘Lyrical This. Lyrical That’ with a single photo most days. It’s now presented as archived galleries in roughly the order the photos were taken and will be updated on a regular basis.