In an earlier Under the Flutter post I spoke about a self-imposed rule that I have when on a residency – take one Polaroid photograph per day, no more, no less, and one must be taken, there’s no option of allowing a day to go by without a part of it turning into a piece of Polaroid magic.  It becomes a visual diary of the residency, but also allows me to focus on something external rather than the generally internal nature of writing.  And, quite frankly, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house and see more of whatever place I’m living in for that month.

But can I just say how god-damn hard it is to take a decent Polaroid snap.  All you’ve got is a lens and a shutter, that’s it.  There’s no little inbuilt computer to do all the work for you, no digital trickery to smooth over the edges.  Although that’s also the brilliant part of this technology – its sheer simplicity.

Anyway, the point is I promised I’d post some of the shots I took while on a residency in Launceston, Tasmania, in April/May this year, and so they’re below for your viewing pleasure.  You’ll probably read the (admittedly slightly blurry) caption that comes with each pic and think, Okay, that Nigel Featherstone bloke really has lost the plot this time.  And I may well have lost the plot.  Although the shots actually feature over at my other site, Open to Public, and each caption is taken from a line of a short story.

Yes, that’s a shameless plug for you to check out OTP and see if there’s anything there that takes your fancy.  If there’s nothing there of interest, please don’t let me know because you’ll crush me like a butterfly.  But if there’s a story you like, drop me an email, or send me flowers.  Either will do.

In the meantime, let the Polaroid love begin.

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While we’re talking plugs, if you’re up for a bit of brain fodder, check out Verity La and a wonderfully succinct interview my VL co-editor Alec Patric has done with Australian writer Tiggy Johnson.