Bruges doesn’t have a bad angle. Stand anywhere, turn around, and there’s another postcard waiting. And the whole town leans toward the water: the canals aren’t a feature of Bruges, they are Bruges. So a boat tour is a must, even with the queue that goes on forever. I never doubted it for a second.
What I hadn’t thought through is that a boat on a narrow canal is a strange place for the way I shoot. Everything comes at you from the same angle, at the same speed, and slides away before you’ve decided anything. Beautiful, yes. Interesting, absolutely. But fifteen minutes in I had the familiar itch: I need to shoot something, now. And there was nothing for me. Facades, bridges, more facades. Thirty people with phones pointed at the same gable.
Then I noticed another passenger. Same boat, same canal, completely different mood. Not bored exactly. Just not hunting for anything. Not looking at all. He was asleep.
That’s when the trip turned around. Bruges kept gliding past on both sides, as lovely as before, and I stopped looking at it. I had my subject: the one creature on board who didn’t need to see any of it.
He was, without question, the most important passenger on that boat. It was Very Important to every one of us that this Person stayed exactly as he was.
The full section is here: Streetward
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