A couple of months ago I received a 1959 Brownie Hawkeye camera as a gift.  I ran a test roll of film through it to make sure it functioned properly and then decided to use it as my primary camera on a recent trip to Assateague and Chincoteague Islands.

There are no controls on a Brownie (including focus) and the lens is an uncoated piece of plastic that is very sensitive to stray light producing flares and vignettes.  It was quite liberating to forget about all the technicalities of making a photograph and simply engage with the subject and accept the final result, regardless of the inevitable imperfections and flaws.

With this kind of project, I am reminded of Thoreau's quote on fishing:

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."  

I believe that this applies equally to pursuing photography.

Here are twelve images straight from the scans (crooked horizons corrected, however).  I look forward to exploring more projects with this camera as a reminder that the important thing is not the end result, but the enjoyment of the entire process and engaging with the natural world.