There is no future in photography

Life speeds up the older you get.  Fact.  You also find yourself wishing for ridiculous things like longer summers and shorter winters.  But as Joni Mitchell sings, “the seasons they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down.  We’re captive on the carousel of time.  We can’t return, we can only look behind from where we came and go round and round and round in the circle game”.  Wise words and a wise lady.  So the past four years since Volume Two has seen me riding those painted ponies up and down, careering though the seasons in a haze of, in the words of another amazing but sadly departed songwriter, Sandy Denny, “who knows where the time goes?”. 

However, I’m happy to report that despite suffering minor shock from reaching the age of 40, the past few years have seen the painted ponies mostly on the up rather than the down.  Phil and I still enjoy our moments of complete and utter childish insanity that only he and I would ever understand.  We grab sunshine whenever we can and as ever, continue to enjoy creative and amazing vegan food.  I’m happy pottering in our garden and squeezing as much produce out of our plot whilst Phil potters on the waves and squeezes as many surfboards into the house he can get away with without me noticing.  Crantock remains the centre of our universe despite being fortunate enough to have travelled to other amazing places around the world and our constant search for and enjoyment of new and old music takes us on more amazing journeys of a different kind.  Between us and together we’ve been stranded in volcanic ash, got lost up a mountain, met relatives I knew nothing about over the other side of the world, had our camp swarmed by egg carrying ants, climbed new heights, attempted to rejoin a band, rediscovered the pain and pleasure of long distance running, gone down a world class ski course predominantly on my arse and met my little Anglo/Alaskan niece in person at last.  So all in all, interesting and amazing adventures in their own unique way.

Increasing bureaucracy and decreasing common sense and sensitivity in everyday life feature in pushing those painted ponies down; that coupled with the general and increasing desire to not have to work for a living.  But until we come up with that magic plan on how to rule our own world, we have to just ride out those dipping ponies.  Many people have much rougher rides that we do and I am grateful for the life we are fortunate enough to enjoy. 

In the meantime, photography still remains a form of sanity for me; the only language I can express myself in without shouting, moaning or generally talking nonsense.  Some may disagree with the last point, given some of the writing that accompanies the photos but I’m not trying to ‘say’ something or express some really important conceptual thesis with my photos or descriptions.  Neither am I trying to put my photos out there as amazing pieces of work because they are not. I’m not studying for a degree in photography after all.  I share them just because.  They are my thoughts, memories, dreams, creations; one of my ways of looking behind whilst I go round and round in the circle game.  And as Joni says; “There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty before the last revolving year is through”.

One last thought from me;

“The only future in photography is its ability to enjoy the past”.   Put that in your conceptual pipe and smoke it and you can quote me on that if you like.  Just don’t try and ask me what it all means because I will only answer with the same answer I gave to somebody many years ago at one of my photo exhibitions, “I liked what I saw and I took the photo”.  Simples.

Scooby Gill.  Almost summer 2011.