Creative strategies

In the third of three extracts from Benedict Brain's first book, You Will Be Able to Take Great Photos by The End of This Book, we see how repetition can reflect change

- Benedict Brain

Written on one of the Oblique Strategies cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt are the words 'Repetition is a form of change'. The cards were conceived to help anyone who is stuck in a creative rut, the idea being that the typically vague 'instruction' stimulates a new line of creative enquiry.

They're great cards! This particular card plays well into the idea behind this set of images. Presented below are 12 photos of the ocean. They have all been made from more or less the same vantage point, and the horizon is exactly in the middle of each frame and perfectly horizontal. There is no foreground interest, no leading lines, nothing to anchor anything to a rule of thirds or the golden mean. In fact, there's nothing in them they're arguably boring images.

However, the ever-changing tones and shifting hues and textures picked up by the shimmering light licking the water's surfaces have an enduring fascination. By photographing the view in exactly the same way, these differences are emphasised. While the images might work individually, they also take on a very different dynamic when seen together.