CONNECTING WITH NATURE

  keywords:- photography, Philosophy, philosophical, culture, art, literal, abstract, Curiosity, Muse

Throughout my life I have loved connecting with nature in many different ways. More recently though through photography. Nature is the perfect muse* for a photographer.

I have expressed myself through a mixed and varied passion for images, though  not consciously connecting them together.

When asked which are my favourite images I mostly turn to very simple ones of skyscapes and, or seascapes, perhaps because they can present the most questions.  Of course each one also has memories embodied in it.   What is it I like about these types of image? The image above for example may conjure up thoughts of awe, wonder, gratitude and reverence. If it does it may generate positive emotions. perhaps the image does not achieve these thoughts, but the real life experience may!

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Another of my life interests has been Japanese culture.

I love the simplicity of the art, the classical gardens, Bonsia trees (I grow my own) the interiors of the old style houses and the food. the Japanese have the ability to turn the simplest act into an art form. I studied Judo for some years and took a keen interest in Buddhism, but for some strange reason did not practice it. But I do not practice any other religions either. Some of them have caused more distress to this planet and the humans on it than they have good, all in the name of god.  If I had to choose, it would be Buddhism.

Japan has produced many artists who focus on nature, one of them Hiroshi Sugimoto, some of his work is in some ways so similar to the images I particularly like.

See his work here –  https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascapes-1

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We all connect to nature, but in many different ways and at varying levels of interaction and interest.  Some people go through their lives and never truly think about or appreciate the world around them. They are not deviant in any way, but I think they are missing so much. For me in particular I have always had a fascination for the curiosity of the unknown. What is around the next corner?, What is it like on top of that mountain? What is under those waves?

I must admit my passions were/are not so intense that they have dominated my life in the way that they can for ‘true artists’.  At one level I could say that I like the sea and I like skies and clouds but I had not ‘literally’ connected the two.

Just recently I sat and watched a TV programme with a friend, discussing the programme was a revelation (to me). You would believe we had watched two different programs from our perceptions of it. Extrapolate that to daily life and you realise why we all seem so different and at times at odds with each other. How we experience life is so completely different we may well as be like aliens from different planets, and so, you can begin to comprehend why we like different art, religions, cultures, music and of course politics.

How we interpret and comprehend what we see and hear is clearly a very important part of the process here. If you cannot see it you cannot paint it, photograph it, write about it etc. etc. Equally you may delete or add features into your art, you may even believe that you saw those features in some way. When you study some paintings and then realise that artist was almost blind you can see why the painting turned out the way it did.

Of course you may decide that you want to create a literal or an abstract representation of your piece regardless of how you observe the scene, and you may have a very clear objective in mind, or even, written down.

If you find that you are thinking about nature, how you connect to it, or how others connect to it you are to some degree, greater or lesser, evolving Philosophical ideas about our connection to nature, and, as you know one thing leads to another. ………