Stop and look around you.
Look out from the frameless window
Of a long pause.
Let the images come to you
Rather than chasing outward after them.
Allow yourself to reorient so that
You're no longer pulled along
By the stream of events.
If you want to see differently,
You'll have to look differently.
- Journeys on Mind Mountain
In our minds we create and allocate boxes for how we are, and, after a while, we make them real. For most of my life I considered myself someone who fell outside the sphere of creative expression. I was always the academic one, my brother the artist. I never contested this as it seemed quite true.
However around 9 years ago, I felt this overwhelming urge to at least try and create. Something had been brewing inside for quite a while, and eventually I couldn't ignore it. I went out and bought the most basic all manual cheapo SLR from Jessops I could find. Within moments, everything shifted - I literally fell in love.
It was like shining a light on a part of me I didn't know existed, even as I shot roll after roll of utter pap. I just loved doing it, walking around and seeing the world with fresh eyes, innocent eyes. I saw things I had never noticed, even after years of passing. The lines of the world, shifting tones and the constant beauty of the world around us - not just the separate domains of man made or natural, but their interaction,combination and flow.
I shot like this for a couple of years until the ugly monster of purpose reared its head and I just gave up. I wasn't good enough, I didn't have any idea what was good and worthwhile. I couldn't find a reason to continue. So I drifted away, not consciously but I left it.
(cont right)
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