I recently fucked up.
Loaded what I thought was a fresh roll of film into my camera. Turned out it was half-exposed already. Shot over images I’d carefully composed for my Vanishing Point and Beaten Tracks projects—structures I’d specifically wanted to capture on film.
My first reaction? Frustration. These were shots I needed. And I’d ruined them.
But after I calmed down, something shifted. The curious side of me wanted to see what I’d actually captured. Maybe there was something in these mistakes I hadn’t expected.
What I found were double exposures—a technique I’d thought about for years but never pursued because I couldn’t figure out how to compose them intentionally. The accident solved that problem for me.
This is Part 2 of a three-part series about what film photography taught me: letting go of control, embracing mistakes, and staying connected to what matters.
In this episode: Why the things that go wrong in your creative work are often invitations to discover something new.
