I’d scheduled a visit to Greenham Common today, but my brain decided last night was a great opportunity to wake up at 1, fret, and then think over coursework. Cheers, brain. So a 6 hour round trip wasn’t on the cards and instead I headed up to the Pebblebed Heathlands, a 40 minute round trip. Actually, maybe brain wasn’t being such a numpty after all, as the ensuing train of thought was productive and clear.

The first thing today made totally clear is just how impractical my intended project is. Sure, it’s a great project, but the amount of travel it’d involve will cost money I don’t have and cause disruption to home life if I’m doing it properly. Fact is, it doesn’t have to be done like this. I can investigate commons without needing to visit them all. The Pebblebed Heathlands are fascinating, known to me, and there’s even academic research that I’ve used previously, love, and can go into more deeply. If I’m developing a project about connectedness to land, and if I’m taking a phenomenological approach, then I need to develop my own connectedness to a common, which I can’t do if I’m flying around the country. I’ve been weighing up whether the project should be many commons in no great depth, or one or a couple in depth. Given my inclinations and limitations, it makes sense to go with the latter, and it will also give me the chance to develop a knowledge of sensory ethnography, use money for equipment, and develop a project more connected to Strands and to the possible future PhD with Gideon Koppel. So, OK brain, you win. You were right.

It’s also worth thinking more about the place of research into commons and photography. There’s no reason they can’t be separate but connected. I can write a series of essays on commons generally. I can investigate commons in East Devon through photography. Each can stand on its own, and I like the idea that the photography shouldn’t need explaining. But the two can be connected by approaching the same subject in different ways. Also, why can’t the photo project be like a diary? Entries date, weather, time – rather than trying to get all the shots alike. Food for thought.