Frame 7. 1-2-3-4-5 Senses Working Overtime

Must be the time of year or the time of my life. Another post concerning the senses. The other day it was sight, today it is hearing. I was in my car today, listening to my iPod (an absolute obligatory accoutrement). I was listening to one of my own creations - yes, I make music too (is there no end to this mans talents I hear you gasp). Anyway, I was reminded of the time that I recorded it. It was the 30th August 2002. Not a special day in itself, other than being a couple of weeks before my 40th birthday. But it was also 10 months prior to a life changing event - my split from my wife. I was in my study, recording the tracks that were to become "Travelling without Moving" (a title from a quote from the film Dune) with my headphones on. At this point I should explain that I am not a masterful keyboard player and rely heavily on the computer software to correct my mistakes. So, it was with some great surprise that I found myself recording the lead track "live" to the point that tidying up was minimal. How it was that I played off the cuff in such an exquisite manner I will never know.  I can remember the rush of exhilaration when playing it back. Was that really me? Now to the point. I was recording with my headphones on. Playing along oblivious to the outside world and it oblivious to me. To anyone peeking in, I would have looked like some mad professor, enraptured by some experiment. That event, that feeling, that performance was for me alone to perceive. No one else was party to it. And today, that got me to thinking. As each day presents itself, what other senses might be at play where a person experiences an event which no one else can perceive? And as we alone experience it, do we appreciate that reality?

By the way. You can hear "Traveling Without Moving" on Myspace.com at the address listed in my links at the top right of this page.

Above is a photo taken at sunset in Bromley (UK). It was a fantastic sunset, I was in a flat overlooking the trees and strangely enough, as mentioned above, felt I was the only one seeing this magnificent sunset. I appreciated....

Frame 6. The Dark Elevator

Up into the darkness I went. The multi story car park had one of two lifts out of order. I awaited the other. It arrived, the doors slid open and the occupants walked out...of the darkness. "That was different" one commented. Like some fool I walked in and in the gloom as the doors closed I searched for the button for my floor.

Why are we afraid of the dark?

Maybe it goes back to childhood - I am no shrink.

What I do know is that 15 second ride in that pitch black elevator was scary but exhilarating. I  had put myself in a strange situation. The blackness was different from just having your eyes closed on a moon-less night. My eyes were wide open and it was as if light did not exist. There were people all around me, a mobile phone in my pocket and a lung full of air if I needed to scream but I felt alone in the middle of a large town - as if there was no one to communicate with .

Then the doors opened, I breathed a sigh of relief and exited.... into the bright sunlight.

Above is a photo taken by the Thames at Greenwich, London. The buildings are disused and b&w  beckoned me. I reworked it in Photoshop to make the sky more ominous and tried to make it look a little film noir.....

Frame 5. "Glee"

This is "Glee".

I shot this early one morning as the joggers went about their business and this girl made her way happily to school. It was a magic moment and I love the feeling of happiness in the photo.

Frame 4 . And pylons are nice too...

Electric Pylons are nice too. Much maligned but yet a thing of beauty in the right conditions. I took this last year and liked the idea of  applying that 'ol sepia effect to introduce an air of nostalgia. For who knows - they may all disappear one day and we will yearn for the good old days of overhead cables, humming in the dry air...

Frame 3. It's Raining Hats & Dogs....

Two observations today:

1. Hats. Funny things. Practical of course - keep your head warm. But there is another side to hats. They are a fashion item of course, or an advertising vehicle and sometimes a safety device, but have you ever stopped to wonder at the power of the "official" hat. That which confers status and authority. From Traffic Wardens to Policeman to Lollipop ladies and maybe even McDonalds fast food technicians, they all tell you that this person has a purpose, a role and the authority to carry out that role......perhaps the McDonald example is stretching that a bit - but you get the idea. But why o why in the tortured evolution of mankind and the more tortuous evolution of fashion was the head and hence the hat seen as the way forward? Why emphasise the head? Why not make gloves the great signifier? Or Shoes? I would like to see positions of authority denoted by resplendent and appropriate footwear. The next time you see a hat - think> What is is saying to me.

2. Dogs. Funny things too. Living as I do in the UK, I am only too aware of the great British publics affection with animals. If the news broadcast a story about a murder, there is a subdued whimper. If they broadcast a story about mistreated donkeys, they is a public outrage. Effigies are burnt and questions asked in parliament. Such is life. Today I saw a dog being walked - a common enough site. Common enough to ignore. Why do we go to the trouble of domesticating an animal that we then have to exercise? There is no other animal that we treat the same. I do not see domesticated sheep being walked down my high street. Nor is there the occasional duck, sniffing at some lamppost. It's a strange affair to say the least. Next time you see a dog being walked - think on.

So that's it for today. Hats and Dogs off my chest.....

Frame 2. Let there be light.

Ever thought how important light is? Of course you have. Well, last night the fluorescent light in the kitchen gave up the ghost. Myself and my partner found ourselves searching for torches and frantically angling lights to illuminate the area. It was perfectly well lit to enable us to function in it but the inability to simply switch on the light seemed to have thrown us into the dark ages (forgive the pun!). its fixed now - but what else do we take for-granted? 

Speaking of light, here is pic I took on Blackheath, London. The sun was setting and for some reason the rather innocuous bus shelter appealed to me. The light was streaming thru it and it took on a cathedral stained glass like appearance. Some editing in Photoshop (another love of my life) revealed the true glory. i love it, not only for the light, but the composition. The geometric Mondrian-like shelter, the lone figure hoping that a bus will eventually come and the silhouettes, which I find terribly powerful. Added to this I managed to capture the Stella Artois blimp doing its advertising rounds that day. All in all - its a fave of mine.

Frame 1. OK - here I am. So what do I do now?

I am an Artist. I paint, photograph, write and make music. I need to create. I need to express. I need to drink tea.

And so it begins....