Today this beautiful robin followed me through the woods, hopping and flying within centimetres and allowing me to take these images.
According to totem animal folklore, the robin red breast is a symbol of rebirth and joy, calling us to release attachments to the old.
The red coloring of the robins chest is also linked to the kundalini in man. This life force lives coiled up within the base of the spine.
When sufficient spiritual growth has been attained it uncoils, rising up the spine to create heightened awareness.
These images form the latest instalment in my ‘dynamics of presence’ project.
I am always amazed how the subjects that I end up shooting so beautifully reflect and communicate some of my internal processes and thoughts.
Here, this dead tree remains wizened, complex and strangled.
It stands tribute to a life filled with surprising contortions, twists and turns.
I found a boldness in its memorial and a lesson in its structure.
It led me to the robin…
Thank you to everyone that came to the private view.
For those that couldn’t make it, here are some pictures of the works in situ.
The exhibition runs until 19th December at the SW1 gallery
Opening Times:
Tues-Fri 12-6
Sat – 12-4
To see the full arising collection please click here.
Selected works from my ‘arising’ collection will be exhibited at the SW1 gallery from the 3rd-19th December 2009.
Private view 6-8pm, Thursday 3rd December.
These photographs were taken on 16.09.09 at Whitesands Beach in Pembrokeshire National Park, South West Wales.
They depict the cloud formations as the sun set. There are no land masses in any of the pictures.
In the work I seek to address the question of how one’s state of awareness influences the potential of the arising moment.
From a space of surrender and curiosity, I discovered a simple beauty, a reciprocity, or play between myself and the environment and an expansive state of presence.
Each photograph is available in the following limited edition:
100 – individually signed and numbered prints.
Black gallery frame – white mount – (51cm x 41cm) or (60cm x 25cm)
Framed: £295+vat
Unframed: £245+vat
50 – individually signed and numbered giclee prints approx. 100cm x 80cm or 50cm (dependent on aspect ratio).
White spacer frame – framed dimensions 120cm x 97cm or 63 cm (dependent on aspect ratio)
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Framed: £1995+vat
Unframed: £1495+vat
(+2 artists proofs)
I submitted two pieces from my Zanzibar travel shoot to the first 100sqft exhibition.
The exhibition runs from 23rd – 28th November 10am – 4 pm daily at the Boleyn’s Boys Club, 68 Boleyn Road, London N16 8JG. Do pop in if you can.
Each piece is limited to an edition of 5 at this format priced at £105. Please contact me here for sales enquiries.
Just after midnight I returned to Battersea Bridge with my camera, thinking that I would take some pictures of the reflections of the lights of Albert and Chelsea bridge on the water. However, the light that actually caught my eye was playing off the structure of Battersea Bridge itself.
The soft luminesence of the moon and the lanterns above enabled the strength and geometry of the bridge’s own structure to emerge from the blackness of the night. The bridge itself, a bold commitment to the spanning of two worlds. The place where I stood, neither in one world or the other.
This forms the latest addition to my long term project – dynamics of presence.
I love the following quote, sent to my by my friend, Stephen Lue. It speaks of the mythical bridge and comes from ‘Manual of the Warrior of Light’ by Paulo Coelho.
“Sometimes the warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once. In one of them he is obliged to do all the things he does not want to do and to fight for ideas in which he does not believe. But there is another life, and he discovers it in his dreams, in his reading and in his encounters with people who share his ideas. The warrior allows his two lives to draw near, “there is a bridge that links what I do with what I would like to do,” he thinks. Slowly, his dreams take over his everyday life, and then he realises that he is ready for the thing he always wanted. Then all that is needed is a little daring, and his two lives become one.”
These photographs were taken from the train window on my journey from London to Leeds. They form the latest addition to my long-term project that explores the theme, ‘dynamics of presence’.
To different degrees, I have always experienced a heightened sense of presence whilst travelling to new destinations whether local or far-flung.
In travel I feel a release from old patterns, a fresh engagement with the world and a space for new or previously unnoticed aspects of myself to be experienced.
These images reflect my desire for a deep and open engagement with the unfolding of my own life experience, as seen through the eyes of an enthusiastic and inquisitive traveller.
This sequence of photographs was taken close to where I live in Battersea at 4.46pm on 28.10.09.
The photographs have not been edited in any way (except that the first image is a crop of the last) and appear as captured.
You may need to click the images to full screen in order to see the lights clearly as they move up the sky.
A variety of theories have been put forward to explain the lights; from flying saucers; to headlights reflecting inside the camera creating this effect.
For me, the sequence is compelling regardless of what the images actually depict and they form another chapter in my ‘dynamics of presence’ project.
Here the pictures were taken with little intention other than experimentation – the images were never meant to be seen by anyone but me – yet something deeply impactful arose in this state of open and free creation. The images cause us to review our sense of place in the Universe and pose questions which we often dare not ask even ourselves.
As with all photographs on my site, these images are protected by copyright.
If you are interested in purchasing any of the images as fine art prints or rights to the image for publication on the web or in print please do contact me.
I woke before dawn today with intentions of shooting the sunrise over Clapham Common. As it turned out, cloud-cover hid the sun but I found inspiration in the birds sitting in the dark trees, quietly watching the joggers and cyclists traversing the park.
