On noticing

There's a thing that happens in both the hospital and the street: you learn to see what's actually there instead of what you expect.

In clinical skills they call it inspection — look before you touch, touch before you listen. In photography nobody gives it a name, but it's the same move: slow down, let the scene tell you what it is.

The camera and the stethoscope are both just excuses to look at something longer than is socially acceptable.

A small practice

Lately I've been trying this: once a day, describe one ordinary thing in complete detail — a waiting room chair, the light in the stairwell at 6pm, the way someone holds their coffee. No photo, no notes app. Just attention.

It's free, it's portable, and it's quietly changed both my photographs and my patient histories.

Try it. Report back.