Four photographers who turned their own ordinary days into acclaimed bodies of work. Study the images. Notice what repeats. Notice what's photographed and what isn't. Then carry a camera through your own next two weeks and photograph what you already know.
Larry Sultan
Pictures from Home
1982–1992 · 10 years photographing his own parents
"These are my parents. From that simple fact, everything follows."
Sultan returned to his parents' retirement home for a decade. He was not a neutral documentarian — he was a son, caught between love and the discomfort of really looking. The subject is mundane. The weight is enormous.
"You can make pictures, and you can be in love. In that way, people sense the authenticity of what you do."
Gowin didn't set up a project with a deadline. He photographed the people he loved, where they actually lived, for thirty years. Entirely driven by attention and affection, not concept.
"Maybe only a grandchild can shoot photos like these."
Kawauchi's grandfather aging, weddings, new babies, household afternoons. Titled after the French word for a sparrow's chirp. The quietest of the five — worth sitting with.
Todd Hido
House Hunting and adjacent series
1995–2021 · 25+ years of suburban houses at night, interiors of empty homes
"I'm interested in places that hold the weight of the people who lived there, even when no one's home."
Lit windows of suburban tract houses at night. Interiors of repossessed homes — the wallpaper, the carpet, the leftover light. No people, just the evidence of living. Domestic space as subject.