In Australia, convicts often had to do hard labour, including brick making. And these bricks too were stamped - apparently to keep an eye on their productivity. They marked them with arrows and other signs, including heart shapes.
Both the Ozzie convict bricks and the Roman stamped ones are now collectibles - so if you do dig up a brick check it for marks, you might be in luck.
In addition to digging around in the garden here are some suggestions to get creative with bricks this weekend.
First off, if you didn’t get around to one of the assignments because of time, weather, etc. you can always take the weekend to catch up.
You can even turn it into a brick-hunting party with friends and family.
Turn it into a game: who can spot the most interesting brickwork and cracks? You don’t even need to be in the same location - you can share your brick-finds via WhatsApp for example. Got kids who hate going for walks? They’ll love it if you turn it into a visual treasure hunt.
The weekend is also a great time to take your brick photographs to another creative level.
So far it’s all been about observing and recording them in a recognisable manner.
But this weekend, try being a lot more free in taking photographs of bricks.
Brick patterns can create a beautiful backdrop for portraits, for example.
Or you can play with different points of view - peeking around corners with your camera, use diagonals rather than straight lines, or try taking pictures with your lens very close to the ground.
Modern brick architecture in Amsterdam - photograph Else Kramer
Experiment with using brick walls as a compositional device - using them to block off part of your frame, for example. Or use a brick road to create a nice vanishing point.
If you love architecture this would be a great time to step back and capture those beautiful brick buildings, rather than zooming in on the bricks themselves.
If you’d rather stay inside how about these brick-activities, which you can do in your pyjamas:
Look for those leftover Legos in the attic and try and construct your own decorative brickwork (Warning: I tried, and it is much harder than you might think).
If you want to stick to photographs why not create a collage of the different brick patterns or ornaments you’ve managed to capture.
You can order them by colour, pattern type, size - whatever visually appeals to you.
And if you’re into sketching: try and draw one of the walls you’ve photographed in ink. It’s a great way to slow down your eye and appreciate those humble bricks even more.
Enjoy playing with bricks this weekend! And do share your creations using the hashtag #kramerseye on Instagram or Twitter so I can admire them.