‘The photo we want to take is closer than we think’: Dominic Dähncke’s best phone picture

Cooped up during Covid, the Spanish photographer found inspiration in a broom … and a nail in the wall

“Telekinesis,” says Dominic Dähncke, when asked how this errant broom is standing upright. He took this shot on the rooftop of his home in El Médano, Tenerife; a communal terrace filled with laundry rooms and cleaning supplies. This was 2021, in the throes of a Covid lockdown, so he would walk around in circles on the rooftop of his building, enjoying the fresh air.

“To be honest, there was a nail stuck in the wall, but I didn’t put it there,” he admits. One morning, he absent-mindedly propped the broom against the nail and noticed that it stayed at a 45-­degree angle. He returned to the rooftop for several days, waiting until the shadow of the small ceiling above matched, then captured the moment with his phone.

“Someone has sold us the idea that if you like street photography, for example, you have to travel to New York, London or Paris,” Dähncke says. “Now, obviously, if you’re a fan of photographing giraffes and you live in Tokyo, you’re screwed. But I think there’s a middle ground where we often lose ourselves, and the photo we want to take is closer than we think, often just around the corner. It is our responsibility to cultivate a curious gaze like that of a child, the sense of wonder of a tourist visiting our city or town.

“During that time, I learned to appreciate the little things, like the space and air on my roof. After the pandemic, I tend to forget I don’t need much,” Dähncke adds. “This photo reminds me of that.”