Smoke
13 August 2008
I’ve had an idea
16 June 2008I keep photographing the light that falls on our bedroom curtains in the mornings. The sun leaves the shadow of the window frame but adds the pattern of the branches and leaves outside. So the outdoors is being pushed inside. It’s a nice but very bright awakening.
Then I was struck by the blinds in one of our meeting rooms at work. Our offices are open plan but we have a few separate rooms. When the blinds aren’t fully closed, there’s another view beyond them.
I think I’m going to see where this takes me. I’m away for a few days now at a conference, so there’ll be lots of potential in the hotel and conference venue. I am also being drawn towards the idea of how we divide up and mark out our space. It may be some unconscious inspiration from Philip Toledano and his bankrupt offices.
And Tim Davis’s tape and carpet stains and fluorescent light.
Stuck
2 June 2008I set up this blog in a frenzy of activity. I designed a nice clean site that I am proud of and prepared my photos for posting. I subscribed to lots of photography blogs to check out what’s going on out there. Then I stopped.
There are so many photographers around and I have been looking at pictures every day. They are art, editorial, personal, and all interesting. I was hoping I might find inspiration on which area of photography I’d like to get into. All I got was stuck.
Whether it’s a brand new find, like Chris Mottalini or 3191 or it’s my perennial favourite - Stephen Shore,
I realised all these other images, styles, techniques and subjects were influencing how I looked around me. I rejected a scene if it didn’t look like something someone else would take. So I don’t know what I want to see. One blogger I have been reading is having the same problem. Liz Kuball is stepping away too:
“It is so easy, when your Google Reader is always full of excellent photographs, to feel as though the rest of the world is producing constantly, consistently, at a level you’re simply incapable of.”
I also get equipment envy and can’t remember how to properly control the settings on my camera.
OK. Pause. Deep breath.
I think I need to take a step back.
I don’t need to make a living out of photography so sod it. I need to stop feeling inadequate and embarrassed and take the pictures that pull at me.
So, back to what I like. I’ll work on colour and texture and see where it leads me. See? I can still take a photo:
I have to take pictures
26 May 2008I can’t describe why certain images stop me in my tracks. I can’t walk away from something that has tugged at my eyes and guts. I feel like I am attached to that scene and can’t walk too far away before the elastic twangs me back again. So I take out my camera, move in, usually closer and closer, and take a few shots, then the elastic snaps and I’m free to move on.
There was a time when I didn’t take pictures at all. I lived the vaguely solitary, reality + fantasy life of my early teens. On family holidays my brother would take pictures (he still does and teaches). I remember wanting to make the souvenirs myself, being jealous of his possession of the Family Camera and the results.
It was only later that I realised I couldn’t remember many bits of my life and responded by documenting places, activities and people more attentively. The old box of 4” x 6” glossy photographs holds so many memories that I can no longer find very easily inside my head. Now the 10 megapixel files on my computer are doing the same job. Anything not photographed will be forgotten.
But now that I routinely photograph trips or parties, I find that there are other things that I am drawn to. I am seeing and looking with a different kind of eye. I want to use this blog to help me understand what I am trying to get across in these new photos. What am I trying to say about the way I see the world? I have no formal photography education, so this blog is also a way of teaching myself and of finding a way to make more of what I love doing. I’d like to know your views and experiences. There are people I read on the right and I’m always looking for more. So get in touch.