The [ED]it // Edition 002. Habit

Habit breaking and habit making, plus news updates, ‘one image’ and endnotes.

Feb 28, 2021

// Feature

Taking breaks and forming routine

“Gosh, February is a short month, eh?!” said my eldest son to me on Friday, and I would concur. February may just be two or three days shorter than any other month, but it feels so much shorter when you are trying to put together a monthly newsletter. I’m trying to build a habit here though, so I sat myself down and got to it. And that’s what this edition is about: habit.

Like many people, I gave up alcohol for January. Dry January wasn’t solely about better health, but to break the habit of having a drink or two most nights and recreate a healthier relationship to alcohol. Thankfully, giving alcohol up for January wasn’t hard for me, though I know it can be for a lot of people and hope you find the support you need.

Recently I realised that my break from social media was also about the same thing. In this case it was breaking the habit of picking up the phone and scrolling mindlessly, using it as a crutch for boredom or the dopamine hit of a ‘like’. That break, and the realization I had formed this habit, has helped me reframe why and how I used social media.

For February I tried to break the biscuit habit – well, to be honest I tried to cut out all sweet snacks and desserts. Not quite all sugar, but all the extra sugar. I still have cereals for breakfast, and fruit and veg, too. It’s been a lot harder than giving up alcohol for some reason, probably because, with biscuits and desserts still in the house, temptation is all around me. Scientists are getting to grips with just how bad the quantity of sugar we consume these days can be for us, not just processed sugar. I wonder if sugar is more addictive than alcohol also?

Those are the bad habits I’m trying to break, and I’m looking to find one to break in March… but what about reinforcing the good habits, habits that help you?

Exercise is something that I find benefits from making it a habit, especially when it feels hard to get up the energy for it. Going to the gym or out for a run when you don’t feel like doing so can be rewarding.

Photographically, I’m building habits, too. For example, I am trying to train myself into the habit of getting up earlier to make pictures in the early light. I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me, and the sun rising earlier doesn’t help! Going to bed a little earlier each night and setting the alarm a few minutes earlier each day seems to be working though. Similar to how you might break a big project down into smaller more achievable chunks, gradual changes like this can lead to bigger one before you realise it.

Editing and sequencing is also tough, it can feel like a real chore unless you have a system that works well for you. We can’t get to our studio at the moment, so I brought my work prints back home and taped them to the wall. If you’re on a video call with me at any point, you’ll see them behind me (speaking of which, if you are up for a virtual coffee or drink and chat about photography or anything else drop me a line). Having those prints there, right behind me, so I see them all the time means the project edit is always running in the back of my mind. I move a photograph here, another there, just to see how it changes relationships between images. It’s been really helpful to see things I’ve missed or gaps where I need more images.

Introducing a tweak or small change to a habit can be important. It challenges my brain and keeps it ‘alive’. I’ll often take a different path on a regular route just to explore, and that’s something I’m trying to apply to my photography and editing, too – doing something a little unusual to see what happens.

Whether it’s creating an editing habit, picking up the camera every day, or sitting down to write something, these are good habits I am trying to make. They keep my creative muscles in tone. What habits are you trying to shake? What habits are you trying to form?

// News

A farm in Remsen, NY, formerly owned by a family with North Wales heritage.

Print sale coming soon

I have another newsletter dedicated to my ongoing project on the migration of people from North Wales to New York and Vermont, which will be released between two and four times a year starting tomorrow. If you sign up to receive it you will be the first to get full details of an upcoming print sale I am going to announce, comprising of exhibition prints from my project ‘The Singing Hills’. The proceeds will help support further work, when I can travel again to make it, as well as another organisation, which will be revealed once the print sale is formally announced. I appreciate not everyone might want to keep up with this project or sign up for another newsletter so keep an eye on my social media and print shop for more details when it goes live.

Closure magazine takeover

I’ve been invited to take over the Instagram account of Closure Magazine later in March, 15-19th. For those that don’t know it, Closure is a ‘magazine’ style account run by two students of the MFA programme at UCA Farnham, Harrie Brookes and Daryl Pallas. They feature different photographers in takeovers, through invitation and submission, as well as run themed open calls; one of my images was chosen for their Christmas feature ‘Closuremas’. Make sure to check it out and follow Closure Magazine, as well as Harrie and Darryl.

// One image

Leonard Winchcombe, known as ‘Lord Len’ to the Tice’s Meadow Bird Group.

Len visits Tice’s Meadow every day to pursue his passion for birding, I almost always see him there when I go. It is effectively his back garden – five minutes’ walk and he is in the middle of it. He told me, “Tice’s Meadow is my love. I love the place so much. It would make me feel very emotional if it were to be sold. The worst thing, that I dread, is it being turned into water leisure park. That would destroy the habitat.”

Last month, I mentioned that I presented this project as a work-in-progress at Photo Scratch. Here’s a bit more about it:

Tice’s Meadow is a former sand and gravel quarry reclaimed and restored to nature over six years by a team of birders and volunteers. It is now one of the premier birding spots in Surrey as well as an ecosystem for more than 1,500 documented other animal species. It is also a place the people from the surrounding towns have connected with, and throughout lockdown more people have discovered nature on their doorstep.

Sadly, it is currently up for sale, with the potential of yet another piece of natural green space being lost to development of privatization. This threatens not only the birds and the biodiversity, but also the quality of life of the people who live near it. Tice’s Meadow comprises some of the last green space that local urban dwellers have direct access to. Many of them have mentioned how important it is to their mental and physical wellbeing to be able to go for nature walks there.

I’ve accumulated a good number of images, information and quotes for this project and I’m now starting to pitch it to media. If anyone is interested in seeing more or featuring the project, please let me know or put me in touch. Thank you.

// Endnotes

One example of habit-developing can be seen in Wesley Verhoeve’s upcoming photobook. Simply called Notice, it is a celebration of going out each day with a camera to observe a neighbourhood. Due to lockdown restrictions Wesley was forced to concentrate on the hyper-local rather than be able to go further afield to make pictures. In his newsletter Process, Wesley generously shares much of how he and his team are building the book, alongside other interesting bits primarily about film photography.
Maria Popova has an extraordinary ability to pull together threads from various writers and artists to create an intricately spun bundle of knowledge, philosophy and art on a particular theme. In thinking and reading about habit this month, I came across several issues of her Brain Pickings, which address the subject: The Power of Habit and How to Rewire Our “Habit Loops”, William James on the Psychology of Habit, Mary Oliver on How Habit Gives Shape to Our Inner Lives, and Shakespeare’s Advice on Acquiring Better Habits.
Of course, Seth Godin says the same thing I do in my main feature on habit, just in far fewer words, succinctly showing the importance of language, systems and semiotics in his blog post Make a Habit/Break a Habit.

Thank you for reading the The [ED]it. I hope you enjoyed it. Please forward this on to anyone else you think might enjoy it, and please do get in touch by leaving your thoughts in the comments or contacting me via email at edbrydon@gmail.com

The[ED]it

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