Photography can sometimes be a bit like collecting. Over the years I’ve had a number of obsessions where I’ve photographed lots of examples of the same thing: windows, shutters, bowls of fruit, bicycles, flowers—you get the idea. You’ve probably done the same. Photographic series are a classic way to highlight similarities and differences. My latest obsession is beach huts. I love them for so many reasons.

For a start, there is something so quintessentially British about them, although they can be found in many countries. They embody that peculiarly British optimism that the weather will be warm, even though it probably won’t be (and then they provide somewhere to shelter from the rain).

I also like the the colours, lines and shapes they make on a beach. Some are old, faded and in need of attention; others are newly painted with stripes and decorations. They provide interesting opportunities for geometric composition.

As with my previous photographic obsessions, beach huts also provide a focus or goal for a day out. Let’s go to the coast—then I can look for beach huts! I love the way photography gives me an excuse to go to places I otherwise wouldn’t, and seek out things that I would otherwise overlook. My search for beach huts has turned me into a tourist in my own country, an obsessive collector. The kids are happy to go along with this, because they get to go to the beach!

It’s beach huts now, and no doubt it will be something else next summer. That’s the joy of photography; it constantly challenges you to find new ways of looking at the world, and to find structure and meaning in the everyday and mundane.

I’d love to know what your current photographic obsession is in the comments.

Kirstin