Reminders

"He was not looking for portraiture but the spirit of motherhood" - The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone

I didn't get any new books for Christmas and forgot to go to the library before it closed so have been getting quite frustrated not having an excuse to sit down and escape for a while (or many). Until, that is, I reached amongst my old favourites in the bookcase and came out with this, such a battered and well read copy that it no longer has covers and only one page of notes at the end. At least the story is still intact.

It's obviously time for reminders - so far everything I've reread of Michaelangelo's journey into sculpture has been echoed in my journey through photography, especially over the past few years. One of my favourite quotes from Michaelangelo - "Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop." - stonecarvers believe that the subject is already in the stone, it is their job to release it.

What's all this got to do with photography? For me it's been about capturing the spirit of the subject rather than recording it's image. How can you know about the spirit unless you understand the subject as well as is possible? For many lucky people it's intuitive, they don't even realize that they do it. For others the mind gets in the way; blocks the spirit or essence and they have to learn to be still, to quiet the mind until the spirit is revealed. "It had to come from him, something he knew and felt and understood. Otherwise he would be lost. ... It had to be born within." I believe that it's all there, that we can do the same with a photograph as the stonecarver does; we just have to be able to make the connection.

This New Year will be about getting closer to the spirits that guide me, to know and understand well enough to be able to communicate the feelings that they arouse in me through my pictures.

Wishing you all the very best for 2011. Have a great night of celebration tonight!