The Red Light District: A blog 02/11

THE FIRST ‘BLOG’ ENTRY:

With Bob Marley and the Wailer’s Survival album playing in the background I have finally sat down to catch up with the world.

This is the first entry of my Blog.

It isn’t, and won’t come naturally to me and in many ways that pleases me. But it seems that having a website to showcase your work isn’t enough anymore (and what of the pre-website world for photographers? Yes I remember them). Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Digg…they all seem to be essential tools, and yet merely inhabiting those spaces, sitting in the corner quietly and uncomfortably, hoping someone will notice you and recognise you talent is just not enough. As with most things, hard work is required. And in this case the hard work seems to be shameless self promotion, jumping up and down saying “look at me”. Or is it? As in the real world someone doing that in a room full of people can be extremely annoying and off putting. So is it just a question of being yourself? Mingling? Socialising? Being witty? Chucking in the odd keyword and #hashtag? Only time will tell. But I will try. I will push through the unease I feel and put aside my self-consciousness and go for it. I will also stop apologising for it and just do it.

Because I am a photographer and because this is about my photography I will split the blog into various areas, relating to the work I am doing. At the moment I am working on my book, ‘West of the Sun’ and the exhibition to go with it. I am also about to go to India with Jim and have various other trips planned for this year, so I intend to title the blogs with words like ‘exhibition’ or ‘india trip’. No idea why, but something in me tells me that will work.

So, welcome to my world, my mind, my thought and ramblings. I hope you enjoy, and come to know my work, as that is, after all what this is all about…

Right. The cut on my finger has stopped bleeding so I will go back to sanding the glass I am using to stretch my prints on (more in the blog soon to follow – hopefully – about my exhibition). Ironic really, that the very reason I am sanding and polishing the edges of the glass down is so I don’t cut myself. It’s called planning for the future I suppose. Fat lot of good it does you when the future jumps back to the present and bites you with the very thing you are trying to prevent…oh the vagaries of time.