The art of observation

10th October 2020

I was listening to Desert Island Disks today ( yup I am officially pigeonholing myself into that category) and a comment caught my attention.
Samantha Morton spoke about her obsession of ‘just really looking at people’. She explained that she has always been engrossed by other humans and this has contributed to her acting skills. By looking at others she can step inside their skin. She observes gestures with intensity and creates narratives through assumption .
I can relate to this compulsive habit. I used to sketch strangers on my commute each morning to University. I still occasionally marvel at a hypnotising character and fall into a trance whilst I observe how they navigate the world. I miss it.

How we see the world shapes how we capture it. There is always a fear that when creating a photograph, I am just seeing what we all see. Framing in the same way anyone would. Am I pointing out an obvious happening to meet rolling eyes and a change in conversation?

However, the true desire to just snap something regardless is allowed; there are no rules. I took this image after a sweaty long drive in Georgia. We finally arrived at the lake and I stepped out to stretch my wooden legs . The layered scene was a perfect ‘Magic Eye’ moment. All I wanted to do was just stand, stop and breathe in the ingredients. I shot without hesitation feeling totally zen. I miss discovering and exploring. oao x