As will shortly be abundantly clear, I was never much of a photographer, but don't have a bad eye and like many, have gone through numerous automatic cameras which, at some point, I happily parked in the attic. Years later, we somehow awoke in the the age of these miraculous mobile phones with integrated cameras and a host of editing functionalities. And so, another excuse to distract myself was borne.

 

The main point of engagement remains the same - how do we see, what do we consciously or subconsciously notice or perceive? Primitive photography which once again I do and journalling which I never did, have I think, that power to refine and reinforce sight and thought, to activate an internal conscious and subconscious dialogue, such as can assist a better understanding of one's place within this existence.

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To sight then, the dominant sense for most of us, but what if anything do we actually understand about this great power we possess, this magic? Certainly I still struggle with the concept that what I see is not necessarily a complete reflection of reality and whilst I am not about to write a treatise on 'sight', I will throw down a few markers. Two basic premises:

 

Firstly that the visual cortex in our brain does a fantastic job of seeing circa 0,0035% of reality, but our eyes, those windows on the soul ‘see’ nothing whatsoever, being simply instruments that capture reflected light, sight therefore being principally a question of intelligence, Mind or brain ‘functionality’. Secondly, that colour does not exist outside the brain; colours are conditioned illusions, the perception of which not only differs according to species, but is described differently even by certain human societies.

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Further, musicians often often talk about colour being inherent to sound. This condition, known as Synesthesia is perhaps just the experience of one sense through another, or just maybe a glimpse of the fundamental unity in our universe, as expressed by resonant music, art, architecture, by language, mathematics and the sciences.

 

Perspectives is a first selection of photographs taken of disparate subjects with a phone, if not with a plan. To my mind’s eye, they have a certain something, an energy of their own, an atmosphere, a tension, a tone, a register; they tell a story or rather they intimate at a possible story. To some I have given titles, albeit with little contemplation – a word or phrase comes that comes immediately to mind; others have no such titles, a failing of mine more than theirs.