Assignment: The Rules


  1. Use your spare time each week to look at the work of the following photographers (one each week), at the end of each week pick one photograph and write 200 words about it. Diane Arbus; Phillip Lorca deCorcia; William Eggleston; Jane Bown.
  2. Fall in love with something.
  3. Identify in which areas of life you under-achieve. Spend two days needlessly obsessing over this.
  4. Mentally visualise taking photographs of your everyday surroundings. Your home, work, commute. Make notes of what photo you would take.
  5. Visit a large museum or art gallery. Find any 'untitled' pieces of work, and think up new titles for them.
  6. Measure the exact radius of your personal space.
  7. Write a CV for your relationship history. Extra points if two positive referees can be listed.
  8. Take a self portrait within 5 minutes of waking up each day for a week.
  9. Learn a new fact every day. Try to remember these facts for future reference.
  10. Re-read a favourite book. Take 5 photographs inspired by this book.
  11. Take ten minutes out of each day to correct your friends' spelling and grammar on social media. Make no apologies or excuses for doing this.
  12. Take a photograph of a cat.
  13. Read a biography of a painter.
  14. Take a photograph whilst nude. Extra points if the photograph is of a person.
  15. Write a hand written letter to a friend with whom you would usually conduct regular text message conversation.
  16. Learn to make one good cocktail. Extra points for good glassware choices.
  17. Listen to more jazz.
  18. Write a review for a film you love, nitpicking over one small detail.
  19. Pick a colour. Now spend an hour in a city centre, making mental photographs and notes each time you observe something with that colour.
  20. Attempt to create something every day. Write something. Photograph something.