Starting at the Beginning
This is my first Blog so please bear with me while I learn lots of new things and then, over time, try and unlearn some of them!
I plan to use this blog as a monthly 'diary' to write about my thoughts and activities in the photographic space both currently and as a way of reflecting on the journey.
In the last month or so my life has changed in so many ways. I took the very difficult decision to leave my job at the end of February. After over 35 years of constant work with no significant breaks I can honestly say that I had completely burned out. Every time I googled 'career burnout' I could tick each and every box, there was no doubt, so I took the decision to stop for the sake of my own sanity. I had already booked a trip to Rajastan with the fantastic Valda Bailey and Denis Hocking of BaileyChinnery so it seemed like the perfect 'full stop'. Returning to the UK in mid-March just a few days before the lock down has been very strange.
Life is certainly different but not in the way that I had imagined it would be. The challenge now is to turn the time at home into a positive and to emerge with a new-found focus on things which make me happy and keep me creative. This diary will keep me honest in that journey.
I plan to include a few images each month, a mixture of new and existing work with some commentary on each to add context. The image included here is one from my recent trip to Rajastan and is the first I have processed. I have been heard to say 'I do like a good window!" so there may be a few of those. I will comment more on images looking forward.
So… here goes…
Linda
xx
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5 Comments
Thank you Linda – it was lovely to share the experience in India with you and it has been wonderful to witness the change in you as the stresses and strains of your work life slowly ebb away. I really look forward to seeing your developing ideas. Vx
Hi Valda, thank you so much for taking the time to look through my efforts. I’ve loved pulling this together – it’s made me think very carefully about what I love about photography… and yes, weren’t we lucky to get to India when we did… for me it’s the perfect full stop between one phase and the next… happy days indeed. Xx
Like!! I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content. The article has truly peaked my interest.
Hi Linda,
I watched your presentation for My Camera Club the other day and your images just blew me away, so I had to take a look at your website to learn more. I don’t know how your thought process was before or how you viewed your photographs, but I get the impression now that you treat them almost like living, evolving subjects with thoughts and feelings. So I thought I’d go back to your first blog and then read on from there to maybe get an idea of your evolution and then maybe get some inspiration from that. I’m tired of seeing the same old pictures of birds and flowers that are entered in my local club’s monthly contests. I really liked your The Splintered Gallery and the photos from your Tale of the Bamboo Cutter were magical. Not quite ready to sign up for your course – sounds like it will be kind of a spiritual journey and I feel like I would need to get psychologically prepared for that or I’d be in trouble.
Hi Jim,
Thank you so much for your lovely comment – thank you too for taking the time to post something – it really does mean so much.
I am so pleased you enjoyed the talk – it was its’ first outing so it was a bit of a worry.
And thank you for taking the time to go back through some of the blogs – they are a bit of a journey now that I look back on them but that’s also why I think it’s so important to record what we do and how we are thinking at the time – it always reveals so much that we might not notice initially.
And yes, I do think that all of our work should exist in its own right and evolve as it sees fit – it is our job ti launch things into the world and let them breathe. I am so glad you like The Splintered – it’s one of the projects which I don’t always appreciate but it was so pivotal in my journey – something I can only see now with hindsight.
Agree with you on Camera Clubs too… I have been down that path, thankfully no more. I will never forget entering a very early abstract into a competition and it scoring 5/20! the second from last that evening scored 12/20 so he really didn’t like my image. In some ways I think it was good to score such a low mark – at least it prompted an emotion – good or bad – an average score would’ve been worse I think.
As for the course, it is fairly intense but not overly. I will be running it periodically moving forward so there will be time if you fancy a go…
Anyway, thank you again for posting this comment.
take care
L xx