The brief for this exercise says that it is not necessary to make any preparations but it is inevitable that I have at least been thinking about what I am going to do, and why. What I have decided to do follows on from a couple of ideas that I explored in I&P, thinking about the Georges Perec exercise, typologies (the Bechers), and Assignment 5.

With that background what I have firstly decided to do is focus only on a relatively short stretch of the road on which I live, about 200 metres out of a total length of roughly a kilometre, from the dead end at the top of the little cliff above the burn, to the first crossroad. Because this is where I live this is the stretch that I know best, not least because of the number of times I walk it with my dog. It also defines something of a distinctive enclave within the village as a whole comprising, as it does, three of the four oldest buildings in the village (350 plus years old, of which mine is one – there are few houses in most of the village that are much more than 120 years old), and includes a locally well known, and quite picturesque, but unusual, terrace of five former farm workers’ cottages.

Before I get down to actually taking pictures I first want to start with a little exercise in the style of Perec simply listing some of this small area’s characteristics, some of which have turned out to be a bit of a surprise:

Length of road: 200 metres.

Number of houses: 14 (of which one is unoccupied). Oldest, pre-1670. Newest, 2005.

Number of residents: 26 adults, 3 children.

12 retired people (comprising 2 former lawyers, 1 psychiatrist, 1 architect, 2 engineers, 1 cancer nurse, 5 unknown). 2 teachers. 1 lawyer. 2 care workers. 2 airline employees. 1 decorator. 1 dog walker/trainer. 1 full-time mother. 1 supermarket manager. 3 unknown.

10 dogs. 2 cats. 3 hives of bees.

25 cars/vans. 3 motorbikes.

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