photographs as art ::degas::
being out at 5am taking pictures
is one of the things i really like to do. the streets are pale grey sprinkled with the Van Gogh yellow of streetlights. the dispersed sounds of humming, clacking and thudding are only faint echos of what is to come. the sun is usually slumbering like the people in the city tucked up cozily in bed. its the best time to be out.
however, unlike most photographers who carefully plan where, when and how... im more of a spontaneous, 'great im up at 430 lets get out and take pictures' kind of girl. and although this may seem disorganised and haphazard, its actually a critical step for me in
letting my creativity flow
houses on the creek
photography without constraints is important because i lost the creative side of myself for a very long time and it is only now slowly unfurling itself once again.
this was one of those mornings and i hotfooted it down to the new Creek Boardwalk in Dubai. to my dismay on the drive down (and i had i checked the weather beforehand i would have known this) heavy fog had rolled in overnight. at the Creek, i couldn't see the shore on the opposite side or more than 8 metres in front of me. with the fierce expectation that it would all soon clear because the sun was starting to rise
i started to walk
boat on the creek
i didn't know how long the boardwalk was or where i would end up. what i did quickly conclude though, about 45 minutes in, was that (a) i was pretty much spookily alone other than some diehard joggers and cyclists (b) the fog was getting even heavier and visibility even lower and (c) the path seemed to go on forever. as i kept plodding on, step after step taking the occasional interesting picture i wondered why was i out in the heavy cold fog at 6am taking pictures?
at about 11am the fog had lifted a little, but by then i was weary, cold and ravenous, so i did the only sensible thing: i caught a taxi back to the car and headed out for a well deserved breakfast.
looking through the mornings work over a piping hot dish of shakshouka and a flat white, i was quite, quite amazed by what i had inadvertently captured. my eye had instinctively seen something different which was new to me and i absolutely loved it. Degas had said: art is not what you see,
its what you make others see
channelling Degas with the light that touches nothing yet permeates everything on this endless pathway
somehow, on this crazy day, the outer me began to see the inner me in a different way. and so the fog is starting to lift on the answer to my question - who is iphotographer?
pictures taken with the Fuji XT2 and the 12mm Rokinon
