Week 3 - Episode 13 - Social Signalling

Flaunting your wealth to demarcate your social status is, of course, nothing new.

Before Birkin Bags and Bugattis, we had reams of fabric - and buttons. There were even laws proscribing how many precious buttons people from specific classes could wear to avoid any possible confusion between different social strata.

Back in the 18th century, you could brag-by-button.

The above miniature artworks by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons were entirely ornamental - and must have been a great conversation starter.

“…perhaps the most interesting thing about buttons is that they have always been more than just a way to unite two strips of cloth. In the 18th century, their function was almost entirely cosmetic: the richest people of the time had a sort of open challenge as to who had the most important, expensive buttons sewed on their cuffs, as if they were medals. They would commission the best artisans and painters to decorate them.” - Franco Jacassi, button collector, in Vice

Another fascinating fact shared by Jacassi is that buttons were a mostly male accessory at first. Buttons implied easy access - and in the Middle Ages women weren’t supposed to be accessible at all.

Today, observe what the buttons you see are signalling about the wearer.

This could be anything from

“I’m way too busy to fuss about details like buttons” to

“Everything I wear has to be colour-coordinated and the perfect design”.

Of course you can’t just go up to people with your camera and photograph their buttons. You’d have to get too close for comfort.

But you could ask. About their buttons. And explain that it’s not a cheesy chat-up line but that you’re actually, really, spotting special buttons today. And then maybe they’ll let you in to their personal space - and allow you to take a picture of their particular buttons too.

If you can get your hands (eyes) on ornamental button collections then by all means go for it. Admire them, capture them and share your finds using the hashtag #kramerseye on Instagram or Twitter - and do follow @kramerseye for daily updates.

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Week 3 - Episode 12 - Button up!

Our new topic this week is, again, something ancient.

Buttons date back at least 5,000 years. Back then, they were mainly ornamental. The use of buttons to fasten garments came much later.

They were miniature works of art, like this Byzantine example from the Metropolitan Museum:

Byzantine Spherical Pendant or Button, 900-950, probably made in Bulgaria, Metropolitan Museum

It wasn’t until the late Middle Ages that buttons become popular as fasteners.

The first button holes appeared in Germany in the 13th century, and they became so popular that in the 16th century actual button maker guilds popped up, to regulate production and use.

Brilliant invention, right? But not for everyone: with buttons came phobia.

Koumponophobia, or fear of buttons, affects 1 in 75.000 people on average. It ranges from mild (a strong distaste for buttons) to severe - panic attacks whenever a button’s in sight. 

If you’re one of those people do not despair: you are actually in great company.

In 2007, Steve Jobs told the Wall Street journal that he suffered from koumponophobia. Hence the turtlenecks and the buttonless elevators at Apple HQ.

This loathing of buttons was a big factor in the design of Apple products - including the iPhone or iPad you might be using to read this on today.

Despite Steve’s efforts however, buttons still abound. We use them to fasten our clothes, to switch things on and off, to get things moving - even to launch spacecraft.

Today, simply stick to observing. What buttons do you see and use during your day?

Capture them, and share your finds using the hashtag #kramerseye on Instagram or Twitter - and do follow @kramerseye for daily updates.

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Week 2 - Episode 11 - Getting creative with bricks

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.

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Week 2 - Episode 10 - The Beauty of the Broken Brick

We’ve admired the ingenuity and beauty of brick building all week - now it’s time to look at the ‘dark side’.

Damaged brick walls.

As you might remember, last week, with our circle theme, we looked at the beauty of imperfection and the concept of wabi sabi.

Well, this not about imperfection.

This is about damage - structural or superficial.

However much one might admire a perfectly laid brick wall, there is an eerie beauty to damaged walls.

Walls with cracks.

Walls with broken stones.

Walls where the covering plaster has partly come off to show underlying layers of brick beauty (there is an entire Instagram account devoted to these called @brickshiding - do check it out).

Artist Alex Chinneck even created a giant crack artwork in London.

“Six Pins and Half a Dozen Needles” by Alex Chinneck - unknown photographer

He collaborated with steelworkers, engineers and brickmakers to create “Six Pins and Half a Dozen Needles”, the above artwork, designed to look like a giant crack in the wall of a brick building. You can find out more in this article on the Dezeen website.

Today, admire the beauty of broken bricks.

Walk into back alleys, cul-de-sacs, forgotten areas.

Look for cracks (large or small), gaps and breaches.

And wonder at the beauty of what’s broken.

You can share your beautifully broken brickwork on Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #kramerseye.

And if you’re on social media then do follow @kramerseye on Instagram or Twitter.

Listen to today’s podcast