Wow Wow Wow

I have had an amazingly adrenaline fueled 24 hours. I had my end of year show which went really, really well.

I can't believe how packed it was and found that the people just kept on coming.  It was also nice watching how people were viewing and interacting with my work.  I was really touched by how many of my friends came too, and was nice to be surrounded by people who were connected to me or my project.  Not just because there was free wine either!  I also got a lovely card sent to me from a friend who couldn't attend as well as some Brylcreem! (Thanks Michelle!)

E looked amazing and aside covertly 'admiring' (aka perving on her) she also took a few amazing photos of the show for me, (I am thinking that my camera is liking her more than me! Still a bit of lenscest never harmed anyone) and it was also nice to have Kitty Stryker and Maria Rosa Young in attendance too.

I realised that this will be the last thing I will do with LCC and I felt a little nostalgic thinking about where I started off from and where I am now.  In my 5 years there I have experienced a lot and although my work hasn't always been well received or understood I have come to see that it has really shaped how I take photographs now.

In many ways being a square peg in a round hole has helped me develop a sharper perspective on my work. I know that I will think strongly about what it is that I want to visually communicate, how will I compose and light the shot and also what is it saying? Am I communicating what I want to with the image?  Will it be aesthetically pleasing? What makes my pictures different?

Well with that last one I know that it is an ongoing thing and rightly so.  You never stop learning and you shouldn't stop learning. Looking at the work of other photographers and making decisions as to why certain photographs carry aura and what is it that makes you love the image or feel drawn towards it.

That is something that I love about photography.  Some photographers have a way of taking a picture that even something as simple as a cup of tea as illustrated by Martin Parr can still leave you feeling visually satisfied (or not as the case may be). Whether we like it or not, images do stick in our mind, and some we just have an affection towards. I especially like this little gem from Nobuyoshi Araki.

Following the show a few of us went to a pub that kept playing the same mix CD, I kept having two balls left when I played a bit of pool with someone who can only be really described other than fabulous as 'Uncle Tweed'.

Today was spent at the gym, then from there I still had bags of energy so after my workout I walked from Moorgate to Chancery Lane, saw my counsellor, then saw my friend Lady V and then after that I ended up walking most of the way home. (To be fair when you are surrounded by wonderful sunshine why waste it being sat on the tube?)

I then saw a family friend and experienced what can only be described as 'Death by Pasta' as I am not so used to heavy carbs after 6 but Nick's food is lovely and although a food coma followed it was worth it.  The inner sumo wrestler that lives inside me was happy tonight.  He won't be happy tomorrow night though as of the morning I am back to my fruit and salad diet. Given that I had a happy scales moment today I intend on keeping it that way.

For some reason I go crazy in the gym on a Friday as I like to give it one big push before the weekend, but as of next week to incorporate more cardio into my exercise routine I shall be playing squash too with my sibling.  Hopefully I will be of a better standard now so I might be able to offer a little bit of competition but if not I will get there!

As I write this I feel turbo charged in the energy stakes.  I have a lot of exciting things planned and things to write about, take photographs of or to explore. I like that life is like that.  Even if the twinges of uncertainty are there I have come to realise that things in my life are rarely simple or overly straightforward because if they were then I would be very bored right now.

My main priorities right now are to live and to keep my creative projects going as that is something that is and should be important to me. As in effect this does make up a lot of the other parts of my identity as well. It's all about exploring and now is the time to really do it - in all capacities.