Category: Photography
Lye Valley
I haven’t posted in a while so I decided today will be the day to break my silence. Well 1st year for me is officially over and I plan to coast till the new term, when what I do in art actually counts. Do I feel like I just wasted a year, YES! but hey what’s there to complain about, got a show coming up in June and a 4 month break to unwind (work my butt off) and prepare for what’s next to come. So I took a stroll in the Lye Valley forgetting my Wellingtons again -_- but in all the photos I took weren’t all that bad, now that the sun has finally showed itself I can take photos the way nature intended. NEARLY BROKE A SWEAT TOO! oh England your bi polar weather does have its days.
18:00 Walk towards Headington Campus
Morning Dew
Web
Fungi
George IV
Canterbury Cathedral
It’s that time of the year!
So comic relief is just round the corner (15th March), for my international readers it’s a time when we have a laugh to raise money for great causes. It’s a day engulfed by irony, as disasters happen in the world we choose to have a moment of laughter, is it truly for a great cause? My answer… HELL YES! With the crap that happens all around the world and even here in Britain, charities seem to be the only means of support, even when the countries in mind claim their independence and pride to not accept the fact that they need help. Don’t get me started on the ins and outs of charity work it is messy business and my prime example is in my post on the Joseph Kony issue just a few months ago which is no longer talked about (wonder why). My point of view is yes it may look like the less fortunate rely on help, making them dependent on aid, but it’s the education and means of rehabilitation that is more important, PROVIDED THAT THEY HAVE A RESOURCE TO BEGIN WITH 😡 ARGHHHHHH if charities didn’t donate anything the issue would still remain the same and cycles are repeated. I like the response generated from comic relief because the message that comes across (to me anyway) is one of SELF RELIANCE (as a community of course) don’t blame individuals for the mistakes made along the process (as far as I’m concerned they have started a ticking time bomb when all would be revealed) and as for the people who are aided it is up to them to use the new resource responsibly (sad as in some cases it’s seen as an opportunity to make money for individuals rather than for their community). So as corrupt as this world is, the little that can be done shines a light on the possibility that we could achieve world peace (Audience applause as he grins on the inside due to the fact that he’s in for the running of Mr Universe). So I have bought my red nose, for all you in the UK (and who ever Lenny Henry has pimped slapped) I hope you get yours too.
The Unknown
So I’m currently exploring various methods of getting my point across in a visual arty way. AND IT’S SO HARD, especially if you are like me and you have tons of projects all lined up in your head just ready to be done -_- But there’s one area of art that fascinates me for some reason and that’s masonry (WARNING THIS ISN’T BASED ON THE ILLUMINATI). See I don’t really see cathedrals as these grand spaces of worship, I look at them for their artistic quality (as a christian I’m instantly drawn to religious imagery, go figure -_-) and the messages that they used to carry. I’ve always been told that in the times when reading wasn’t a common thing (not much difference today thanks to our friend the screen) art has always stepped in, to convey a message to the public. Now of course we have the obvious, such as the Madonna’s (Not the one that’s like a virgin, the actual virgin), the Saints and of course Christ (PRAISE JESUS, I think you’ve learnt by now that I’m Cray for Christ). But what about the tiny bits of embellishments found all around these buildings? They too, have a quality that exceeds any plain stone, yet we choose to walk past as it is something we are used to seeing everyday. Our sense of wonder for these objects has vanished based on the fact we look at these stones for their appearance and not the story that follows it. For all we know it could be the tale of a hard working apprentice that suffered great hardship and physical trauma to get something right, and it finally happens! He gains his master’s approval and he’s about to see his work finally showcased, in an instant, a loose stone above him plummets and hits him on the head causing instant death before the master mason has the time to place the stone in it’s rightful place……. DRAMATIC! well that stone is suddenly more interesting! So next time you walk passed a fancy old building look twice, you never know what your mind might make up.
Life after Death
This is always a touchy subject but it’s one close to my heart, often I’d keep the sorrow to myself but there are times when it just has to be released and it’s a site because I can’t for the life of me control myself. But there’s always comfort in the good memories I learnt that the hard way when I lost near enough 7 members of my family in the space of 4 years. It’s a lot to bear but I don’t tell the whole truth sometimes out of the fear that I’d be treated like a charity case, I’m black so best believe I’d fit the stereotype -_- I lost two grand-aunts, grand-father (who meant the world to our family), cousin, uncle (who was like a dad), another uncle and my grand-mother (from my dad’s side). So much grief, and people wonder how I don’t go crazy.
It’s amazing how belief in an afterlife can be incredibly comforting at troubling times. As a family we are all united in the love we have for God (there I go preaching again). The question of resurrection has always fascinated me; as a christian, there’s questions that I still ask and only a being with a higher understanding than I can answer and I’m aware that human knowledge is limited. But great truth came to me in a quote by Albert Einstein (I should know its on a poster I have in my room) ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world'( Before you Einstein fans hound me down I’m aware that quote is probably not his original words but it probably carries the same message so BACK OFF O_O) Escapism has to be our greatest tool because it helps us deal with emotions too great to bear, but it’s the right memories with the right attitude that can get you out of any emotional low. AND MINE HAPPENS TO BE THE 90’s!!!! as a kid the music just always made me happy; so happy that I’d either sing or move uncontrollably (which we now call dancing) But hey growing up sucks but I still have the memories on the inside and that gives me great comfort.
On Saturday I took a shortcut to the studios via a church cemetery (which before I wouldn’t dare walk through due to my early apocalyptic way of thinking) But I remember my mum (who’s a nurse) tell me that the dead are the most peaceful people you’ll ever meet, I used to laugh and quiver at the same time at the thought but she was right, I walked through and no zombie attack. So the christian message of resurrection came to my mind instantly so I was like JESUS SHOW ME THE LIGHT! and I looked carefully and was completely gob smacked! Of course spring is a time when everything blossoms but THAT’S IT! what we thought of as no longer existent suddenly springs back up to life! If not in the afterlife then in our memories (I won’t tell you what I believe but I’m sure you can make an educated guess) So yeah life may suck if it looks like all we do IS DIE, but it’s the living part that counts so LOVE LIFE!!!!
Folkestone Harbour 2
Peaceful.
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